Ethan Hawke Wants Black Phone 3 and He’s Ready to Go to Hell with the Grabber

Black Phone 2 just hit theaters and immediately rang up $2.6 million in Thursday previews. If it legs out anywhere near the first movie, start expecting chatter about a third one. Good news if you like nightmares with a mask: Ethan Hawke is into it.

"I would like to go to hell with the Grabber."

That was Hawke to Entertainment Weekly, and he wasn’t just being cute. He says genre is a fun playground because you get to build on what audiences already expect, and his pitch for a third film is basically a character study from the underworld. He wants to dig into who the Grabber used to be, who he is now, and how he keeps slipping into other people’s dreams after death. Creepy? Yes. Specific? Also yes.

It’s also a bit of a twist considering Hawke usually avoids sequels. His words, not mine: they often feel like corporate cash-ins. But he says director Scott Derrickson pushed hard to make Black Phone 2 feel alive and not like homework. According to Hawke, the sequel is inventive, actually has something to say, and outpaces the first movie. He even compared it to how Road Warrior levels up from Mad Max: bigger and more complicated, sure, but evolving in spirit, not just spending more money.

As for what you’re walking into with Black Phone 2: the Grabber may be dead, but he’s still after Finn (Mason Thames) and now going after Finn’s younger sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw). Finn is 17 and trying to put himself back together after what happened in the first film. Gwen, now 15 and still stubborn in a good way, starts receiving black phone calls in her dreams and sees visions of three boys being hunted at a winter camp called Alpine Lake. She convinces Finn to head up there during a snowstorm, where she stumbles onto a brutal tie between the Grabber and their own family history. The siblings end up facing a killer who’s more dangerous from beyond the grave and way more personal than they ever expected.

• Now playing: Black Phone 2 (dir. Scott Derrickson), starring Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, and Madeleine McGraw
• Thursday previews: $2.6 million (for context, Good Fortune pulled $725K the same night)
• Hawke on a potential Part 3: wants a character-deep dive that follows the Grabber straight into hell
• Hawke on sequels in general: usually not his thing, but he says this one isn’t a cynical cash grab and actually pushes boundaries
• Vibe check: Think a Road Warrior-style evolution rather than a copy-paste

If the box office keeps cooperating, don’t be shocked if Black Phone 3 gets a dial tone. Would you pick up?