“The Black Phone” is ringing once again at Blumhouse and Universal.
The studio said Friday that “The Black Phone 2” has been dated for June 27, 2025. This takes the place of the previously announced untitled Blumhouse event film for that date.
According to the official release, the news about the sequel “announces the launch of a sinister new franchise.” No information about who is making the sequel (or who is starring in the new film) has been revealed.
“The Black Phone,” produced by Blumhouse, was released by Universal on June 24, 2022. The original film was directed by Scott Derrickson and written by Derrickson and his frequent partner C. Robert Cargill, based on a 2004 short story by Joe Hill. The movie starred Mason Thames as a young boy abducted by a serial murderer known as The Grabber (a thoroughly evil Ethan Hawke). While awaiting his execution in The Grabber’s lair, a black phone rings. On the other end are the ghostly previous victims of The Grabber, who attempt to help him survive his fate and defeat The Grabber.
Jeremy Davies, James Ransome and Madeleine McGraw also starred in the original movie.
It’s unclear if Derrickson, Cargill or any of the cast members will return. Is it a prequel? Is it a sequel? Only time will tell.
Derrickson’s next film is “The Gorge,” based on a Black List screenplay by Zack Dean and starring Miles Teller, Sigourney Weaver and Anya Taylor-Joy. At the time the script made the Black List (2020) it was described thusly: “A brazen, high-action, genre-bending, love story about two very dangerous young people, who despite the corrupt and lethal world they operate in, find a soulmate in each other.” The film will be released next year by Skydance and Apple TV+, although details for the rollout of that film haven’t been revealed either.
