The Big Picture

• The Black Phone was a surprise success for Universal Studios, grossing $162 million worldwide.
• Hawke reprises his role as The Grabber in the upcoming sequel, with Derrickson returning to direct and write.
• The Black Phone follows Finney, a 13-year-old boy trapped by The Grabber, communicating with victims through a disconnected phone.

When The Black Phone premiered in 2022, the Blumhouse horror movie was both a surprise and a terror in equal measure. On the one hand, the film proved to be a massive success, starring Ethan Hawke as The Grabber, a sadistic killer who abducts and murders children, The Black Phone, on a low-budget, turned out to be a brilliant commercial play for Universal Studios, grossing $162 million worldwide. On the flip side, the film was a proper terror to behold for viewers who ventured to theaters to see The Grabber in action. With the prospect of another franchise on its hands, Universal Studios and Blumhouse had announced that a sequel was set to arrive in theaters in June, 2025. However, with a calendar shuffle, The Black Phone 2 will be arriving in theaters on October 17, 2025.

In the first installment of the movie, Hawke, as previously mentioned, played the role of The Grabber, a criminal responsible for kidnapping several children with a variety of sadistic methods he's perfected over the passage of time. The Black Phone follows a pair of siblings called Finney (Mason Thames) and Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), in their bid to survive the dangerous man that continues to haunt and hurt their community. With nowhere else to go and locked away in a soundproof basement, 13-year-old Finney comes across a phone that can directly connect him to The Grabber's previous victims, who desperately want to help him escape the grasp of the killer.

The Black Phone was directed by Scott Derrickson off a script co-written by Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill. The pair is set to return to pen the upcoming sequel and are producing with Blumhouse’s Jason Blum. Derrickson's credits include Marvel's Doctor Strange, and Sinister. The collaboration on Sinister between Derrickson and Cargill was the start of what has gone on to become a profitable working partnership.

Hawke Is Happy to Return

The casting of Hawke saw the four-time Oscar nominee reacquaint himself with former collaborators. The actor had originally worked with Derrickson on the Sinister franchise, and The Black Phone saw Hawke renewing his working relationship with Blum after prior projects like The Purge, In a Valley of Violence, and Stockholm among others. That list is set to expand with Hawke set to return for The Black Phone sequel. Speaking in a conversation with Collider's Tania Hussain, Hawke revealed his enthusiasm for working with Derrickson again on the upcoming sequel should he get the chance. However, how The Grabber makes his return should make for interesting viewing given how it all ended the first time around. Hawke, speaking, said:

"Thanks, I have a good relationship, you know, like what Maya said about directors — it’s really true of Scott Derrickson. I had a really wonderful experience making up my first scary movie with him. We did a movie called Sinister, and he’s just a real filmmaker.

I love the way he thinks about film and storytelling. And as I get older, I really enjoy working in different genres as an actor. It’s a way to shape [and] change yourself as a performer. By trying to learn the math of what makes a great romantic comedy, what makes a great art film, what makes a great horror film, what makes a great Western, you know, there’s a certain geometry to all that and Scott is brilliant at that. And so basically, if he wants me to be in ‘Black Phone 2’, I’m gonna do it.

The Black Phone is available to stream on Hulu. The Black Phone 2 will arrive in theaters on October 17, 2025.