Black Phone 2 Director Reveals the Chilling Inspiration Behind Mason Thames and Ethan Hawke's Return
As Black Phone 2 creeps toward theaters, director Scott Derrickson says the sequel draws on the fears and incidents of his own youth, shaping a chilling new chapter for Mason Thames and Ethan Hawke. The Doctor Strange filmmaker teases a more personal, unnerving approach behind the camera.
Scott Derrickson is not treating Black Phone 2 like a paint-by-numbers sequel. He says it comes straight out of his own teenage memories, which is very on-brand for a director who has always been more interested in texture and mood than cheap jump scares.
Derrickson, 59, told Filmfare that this one pulls from his high school years in Colorado in the early '80s, and he is folding that into the movie in some nerdy craft ways — including specific uses of Super 8 footage to channel the big, messy feelings he had as a teenager. If you felt that grainy, haunted-home-movie vibe in the first film, expect more of that here. And yes, this is the same Derrickson who directed Marvel's first Doctor Strange back in 2016.
"I am less interested in drawing from other people's work than in expanding on what elements from my own work seem unique to me."
Translation: he is not chasing references; he is mining his own past. That tracks with how he describes the film's emotional core and its period detail.
Where Black Phone 2 picks up
The sequel is set in 1982, four years after the first movie. Mason Thames is back as Finney Blake, trying to live a normal life after being kidnapped by Ethan Hawke's masked serial killer, the Grabber. Normal does not last long. Finney's younger sister starts seeing terrifying visions again — and the nightmares come with the sound of that black phone ringing. You can guess what that does to the Blakes.
- Cast: Mason Thames, Ethan Hawke, Madeleine McGraw, Demian Bichir, Jeremy Davies, Miguel Mora
- Period: 1982, four years after the events of the first film
- Derrickson's approach: uses Super 8 footage in targeted ways; inspired by his Colorado high school winter camps in the early '80s
- Early word: screenings have drawn strong, glowing reactions
- Release: slated to hit theaters on October 17, 2025
Bottom line: Derrickson is digging into his own teenage headspace to shape the scares, which is probably why early viewers are responding. If the first movie's ghosts stuck with you, this one sounds like it wants to haunt your memories just as much as its characters'.