More exciting Blumhouse news emerged from last night's CinemaCon presentations, with Universal unveiling a first look at Scott Derrickson's The Black Phone 2 which reveals just how exactly The Grabber is set to return for the sequel.
Hitting theaters on October 17, The Black Phone 2 sees the return of stars Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies and Miguel Mora, with new cast additions Demián Bichir and Arianna Rivas.
As yesterday's teaser confirmed, Ethan Hawke will also be back for his role as notorious child killer The Grabber, who met a grisly fate at the end of the first movie. According to sources who witnessed the teaser, The Grabber's comeback will come in a sort of Freddy Krueger capacity, terrorizing his victims from beyond the grave using the titular phone.
Here's how ScreenRant described what they saw of The Black Phone 2:
The teaser begins with a payphone/phone booth off the side of the road in winter. Finney (Mason Thames) is walking and stops when he sees the payphone. Three photos are shown being placed on a table; then it cuts to a boy inside a basement, with someone very slowly and loudly walking down the stairs.
Later, Finney answers the phone and the Grabber appears on the outside. He says, “Hello Finney. Did you think our story was over? You of all people know that death is just a word.” Finney is shown in the phone booth a lot, with scenes of the other boy (or kids) being attacked and nearly murdered. In essence, the Grabber is now embodying Freddy Krueger as he targets kids after his death.
C. Robert Cargill wrote the script for the sequel, with Joe Hill, author of the original short story The Black Phone is based on, executive producing. Jason Blum, Universal and Crooked Highway Production also producing.
In a previous interview, Derrickson detailed how it was Hill himself who pitched him “a wonderful idea” for the sequel, with Cargill confirming on Bluesky that he in fact refused to make a sequel to The Black Phone until he heard Hill's pitch.
Look out for The Black Phone 2 trailer when it goes live.
