It should be safe to say that The Black Phone dominated the summer of 2022. With a strong script and performances like Ethan Hawke’s of a cold, sadistic killer, the movie terrified audiences and launched the Blumhouse production to fame. It was only a matter of time before the film would be greenlit for a sequel, and when the news was announced in October 2023, Scott Derrickson confirmed that he would be returning to direct The Black Phone 2.

Along with Derrickson’s return, the entire cast of the first film is set to reprise their roles, including breakout stars like Mason Thames as Finney and Madeleine McGraw as Gwen. But with the first film’s ending having the would-be victim, Finney, escaping and The Grabber meeting his own demise, it leaves the question as to what the sequel will exactly feature. Derrickson had a few answers to that when speaking in an interview with GamesRadar+, stating, “The main difference is that it’s a high school coming-of-age movie…a high school coming-of-age movie demands more. It has to be more visceral. It has to be, I think, more graphic, scarier.”

Derrickson goes further to elaborate on Finley’s character and how he might change in the sequel saying, “I think that the change that occurs in human beings between middle school and high school, that’s some of the biggest change you go through in your life.” It will be exciting to see the direction Derrickson decides to take the feature and if those “changes” will hinder or help the highly anticipated sequel.