Horror always rings more than once.
The Black Phone–the Scott Derrickson horror film slated for release this week–may be headed toward franchise status before long, according to a report on comicbook.com.
The film–which hits theaters Friday, June 24–may well spawn a sequel if fan reaction calls for it, Derrickson said. “Joe Hill (whose short story inspired the movie) pitched me a wonderful idea for a sequel,” the director said, “and if the movie does well, I’m gonna do it.”
Derrickson added that he “really liked it when Joe told me, and he is very protective and personal about his material. I thought, ‘That’s how you do a sequel to The Black Phone. That’s terrific.”
The Black Phone–helmed by Derrickson from a screenplay he wrote with C. Robert Cargill–is an adaptation of Hill’s 2004 short story of the same name. The film stars Ethan Hawke as a serial killer known as The Grabber who kidnaps a young boy named Finney Shaw (Mason Thames) and traps him in a soundproof basement.
The horrific hook is that the basement has a disconnected black phone that somehow transmits the voices of The Grabber’s previous victims–who want to help Finney escape. The film also stars Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies and James Ransone.
The film already has a famous fan–Joe Hill’s dad, Stephen King. Derrickson said Hill showed the film to King, and the bestselling author “apparently loved it. And his comment to Joe was, ‘It’s Stand By Me in hell’, which I thought was great,” Derrickson said.
Keep reading Horror News Network for any last-minute updates on The Black Phone.
