The Black Phone 2 Is Officially Happening, Will Haunt Theaters In 2025

One of last year's biggest horror hits is officially getting a sequel. Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions have announced a release date for "The Black Phone 2," which is now due to arrive in summer 2025. Very few details have been revealed beyond the release date, but that's enough to confirm that a follow-up to director Scott Derrickson's adaptation of Joe Hill's short story of the same name is on the way. Mark your calendars for June 27, 2025.

Plot details have not been released as of yet. It's also unclear if Derrickson will return to the director's chair, or if a new filmmaker will be brought in to helm the sequel. It's also not specified whether writer C. Robert Cargill will return to pen the screenplay or not. Derrickson and Cargill are close collaborators, dating back to 2012's "Sinister," so if one comes along, it's likely both will. There's also the possibility that they could return as producers while someone else occupies the director's chair. For now, Cargill is at least teasing some (fake) sequel titles:

Let's get this out of our system:

BLACK PHONE$
BLACK PHONE 2: CALL RETURN
BLACK PHONE 2: PLEASE HOLD
BLACK PHONE 2: HOLD THE PHONE
BLACK PHONE 2: BIGGER AND BLACKER
BLACK PHONE 2: THE GRABBER ONLY RINGS TWICE
BLACK PHONE 2: DIAL TOMB

— C. Robert Cargill (@Massawyrm) October 27, 2023

As for returning cast members, that remains to be seen. Ethan Hawke played The Grabber, though his return seems unlikely given what transpired in the first film. Mason Thames and/or Madeleine McGraw seem far more likely. It's also possible that the studio could move on with an entirely different cast. Right now, anything would be pure speculation.

For Universal, the move makes a ton of sense. "The Black Phone" was not only met with widespread praise from critics, but it was a huge hit. Against an $18 million budget, the horror flick took in a hugely impressive $161 million worldwide. Blumhouse, the studio behind "The Purge," "Paranormal Activity," "Insidious," and the most recent "Halloween" trilogy, is notorious for taking low-budget hits and turning them into franchises. And now, they'll do it again.

Derrickson, for his part, has seemed open to the idea of a sequel. Speaking to /Film last year, the filmmaker explained that he was working on an idea for a follow-up, which was different from Joe Hill's original idea for a sequel. Here's what he had to say about it at the time:

"I've got a different take on it, which I've been talking to Joe about, which he also really likes. It's kind of half-baked right now, but there's no guarantee about it. This is just something that I'm noodling on. I would like there to be a sequel, but at this point, there's no guarantee."

The director, it's worth mentioning, is staying busy these days. He's currently finishing his new movie "The Gorge," and he's also developing a potential sequel to "Labyrinth." Most recently, he directed a segment in the horror anthology "V/H//S/85," which was released on Shudder earlier this month.

"The Black Phone 2" arrives in theaters on June 27, 2025. Stay tuned for more details.