The Black Phone 2 confirms Ethan Hawke's return and summer 2025 release date

Ethan Hawke is set to reprise his role as The Grabber in upcoming horror sequel The Black Phone 2, as Blumhouse announces the return of several of the original movie's cast members. Curious, really, given how the first film wrapped up...

Written by Doctor Strange duo C. Robert Gargill and Scott Derrickson, and directed by Derrickson, The Black Phone is based on Stephen King's son Joe Hill's short story of the same name, and made over $161M worldwide from a $16-18m budget. So it's no wonder Universal are keen to turn it into a franchise...

It centers on Finney Shaw, a 13-year-old boy who gets abducted by a sadistic killer and locked inside a soundproof basement. At first, the youngster's chances of escaping seem cripplingly slim. But when the disconnected phone on the wall starts ringing, and he learns that The Grabber's murdered victims are on the line trying to help him, he realizes all hope is not lost.

Warning! Spoilers for The Black Phone follow.

In the end, Finney escapes a grisly fate by practicing how to fight back, with the encouragement of one of the Grabber's ghostly victims Vance. Vance tells Finney how to pack the disconnected phone they've been talking to one another one with dirt, so that it's heavy and can be used as a weapon.

After the Grabber kills his own brother Max (IT: Chapter Two's James Ransone) with an axe when he attempts to free Finney, the murderer sets his sights on the kid. Using the pit he'd previously dug into the concrete floor, and other bits and pieces around the room, Finney overpowers the Grabber and snaps his neck with the phone cord, seemingly fatally, which has us wondering how the sequel will bring him back.

Of course, prequels are always pretty popular these days, but with Mason Thames back as Finney, we can't see how that'd be an option. Other returning players include Jeremy Davies, Miguel Mora, Madeleine McGraw, as Finney's sister Gwen, with whom he reunites at the end of the previous film.

In the same report, via Deadline, Blumhouse confirmed that The Black Phone 2 will be released on June 27, 2025, so we've got a long while to wait before we find out where the follow-up will take things.

In the meantime, check out our list of the best horror movies of all time, or our guide to the most exciting upcoming horror movies heading our way.