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Tag: Black Phone 2

  • The Grabber vs. CoHo: A Halloweekend Box Office Showdown

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    Photo: Paramount Pictures

    Halloween weekend at the box office offered a few final scares, including a last-minute resurgence for Black Phone 2 and the reanimated corpse of BookTok powering the Colleen Hoover adaptation Regretting You. Behind them, Bugonia expanded to modest numbers, and One Battle After Another continued its run as the biggest points-earner of the season.

    It seemed as if Black Phone 2 would end its run at the top of the box-office charts after only a week when Chainsaw Man cut it down to size last weekend. But in classic horror movie fashion, the Ethan Hawke—fronted horror sequel rose up from the grave for one last scare. Initial estimates put the Grabber’s second outing neck and neck with (and even slightly behind) the rom-dram Regretting You, but when the numbers finally shook out, Black Phone 2 took the weekend’s top spot with $8.3 million, pushing its cumulative total to $61 million. Factoring in bonus points for clearing $50 million and finishing No. 1, Black Phone 2 is now at 126 total points, second to only One Battle After Another (192 points) on the overall leaderboard. Considering that 80 of those OBAA points are from the Gotham Awards nominations last week, Black Phone 2 is the league leader thus far in terms of pure box office. That’s good news for the 1,773 of you who had enough faith in the Grabber to pick the movie up for $5.

    Meanwhile, Regretting You held on admirably in its second week. It’s easy to forget now, but the 2024 film It Ends With Us wasn’t just the pretext for an extended media controversy and eventually the basis of a lawsuit involving Blake Lively and director-star Justin Baldoni. It was, in fact, a $350 million worldwide summer box-office smash, and a big factor in its success is that it was based on a hugely popular novel by Colleen Hoover. Regretting You — a romantic drama starring Allison Williams and Dave Franco that, as far as we know, has not generated any lawsuits — did not drum up nearly the kind of fervor as the previous Hoover adaptation. But at a cost of only $3, the 352 people who drafted the film have gotten decent value out of it so far.

    One Battle After Another picked up another $1 million and change in its sixth week, inching it ever closer to the $75 million bonus-point threshold. That’s nice, but after last week’s Gotham-nominations haul, box-office performance is about to become a marginal portion of OBAA’s greater points portfolio. The same likely cannot be said for Tron: Ares, which needed to be a $100 million–to–$200 million blockbuster to end up as a worthwhile buy for its 896 teams. At $67 million and with dwindling awards possibilities (maybe it will show up on the Oscars’ Visual Effects shortlist), that outcome seems unlikely.

    In terms of movies that are significant awards contenders, Bugonia expanded wide, pushing to $5 million cumulative and fifth place at the weekend box office. For comparison’s sake, Poor Things didn’t expand to 2,000-plus screens until its eighth week, but it still managed to clear $5 million in its third weekend, on only 800 screens, en route to a $34 million domestic take. On the other end of the Yorgos Lanthimos–Emma Stone line is last year’s Kinds of Kindness, which had made only $3.8 million after three weeks and on 900 screens. Bugonia’s box-office performance is closer to the Kinds of Kindness side of things, though the film’s awards prospects seem better.

    And now for our weekly banging of the Roofman drum: After four weeks in release, Roofman sits at a respectable $21 million, putting it ahead of the following movies:

    • Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere — $16M
    • The Smashing Machine — $11M
    • Bugonia — $5M
    • After the Hunt — $3M

    Does this mean anything? Is Roofman just at the top of a list of relatively low-earning movies with prestige elements that 20 years ago would have made five times what they’re making now? Perhaps! I still say let’s put Channing Tatum in the Oscars race.

    You can visit the MFL landing page to scope out the full leaderboard with information on mini-leagues — and join us on Discord for expanded stats and discussions.

    Predator: Badlands: November 7
    Christy: November 7
    Die My Love: November 7
    In Your Dreams: November 7
    Nuremberg: November 7
    Peter Hujar’s Day: November 7
    Sentimental Value: November 7
    Train Dreams: November 7
    Now You See Me: Now You Don’t: November 14
    The Running Man: November 14
    Jay Kelly: November 14
    Keeper: November 14
    Arco: November 14
    Come See Me in the Good Light: November 14 (Apple TV+)
    Left-Handed Girl: November 14
    Sirāt: November 14

    Gotham Awards: December 1
    New York Film Critics Circle announcement: December 2
    Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations: December 3
    Critics Choice Awards nominations: December 5
    Golden Globe nominations: December 8

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    Joe Reid

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  • 2025 is randomly the Year of Mason Thames? | The Mary Sue

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    Don’t look now but Mason Thames might be the king of 2025 at the movies. This weekend, His latest film, Regretting You, managed to sneak the #1 slot at the box office over The Black Phone 2. Colleen Hoover’s beloved novel serves as the inspiration for the new movie. It notched about $8 million this weekend. But, Mason Thames was in a strange bit of competition with himself on this one. He’s in the Blumhouse horror picture as well! He stars alongside Ethan Hawke’s grabber in that world. But, that’s Thames’ third movie to debut at #1 this year. 

    As our friends over at Film Updates posted, that’s the first time an actor has scored 3 number ones since Jim Carrey in 1994. Yeah, How to Train Your Dragon was this year too! (Mason, if they ask you to reboot Ace Ventura, go ahead and run!) That’s a fun accomplishment for an 18 year-old actor looking to keep establishing himself in Hollywood. There’s a bit of a give and take to this box office tally for Halloween weekend. Both Regretting You and Black Phone 2 are hovering around $8 million. But, no matter what, everything is coming up Thames.

    Now, it will be interesting to see where Mason Thames will pop-up next. At the moment, it feels like the kid is in line for the same kind of career arc as current Hollywood favorites. (Buddy, if you get a decent script to play a vampire in the next 4 months, give it a thought!) The future will likely take care of itself. But, we had to at least report on this strange little story.

    Mason Thames notches 3 #1 movies in 2025

    Mason Thames in Regretting You.
    (Paramount)

    All of this news is very exciting if you’re in the “Mason Themes Fan Club” already. It’s legitimately nice to see a young actor get this kind of success so soon. But, for this observer, the success of these three very different films leads to a more important conclusion. Basically, this isn’t a millennial’s game anymore. As you may be aware advertisers, studios, and other entities are trying to crack the code of what Gen Z, and Gen Alpha now, are interested in. It’s an interesting question as the Internet splinters into smaller and smaller fan communities.

    The monoculture as we knew it in the mid-2000s and early 10s is a quickly fading memory at this point. Social media is basically king, and one could argue has eclipsed traditional forms of entertainment like television and movies. All of this makes the job of marketing projects for the small screen and its IMAX-sized cousin even more fraught. With the seeming desperation in the air from all corners, look to studios and other decision makers to try to make some (un)educated guesses. Expect to see Mason Thames in a lot of stuff over the next two years.

    Don’t get it twisted. This young man is very talented, and his co-stars love him.  I’ve been around long enough to see the original How to Train Your Dragon movies, and his live action remake was stirring. Let’s not underplay his role as a burgeoning teen heartthrob for some of our younger friends as well. All of that is a potent mix that should serve Mr. Thames well into his approaching adulthood. But we can file the success of regretting you away as more evidence that millennials aren’t at the controls anymore. We’re all living in Gen Z’s world and these small generational indicators aren’t stopping anytime soon.

    (featured image: Paramount)

    Have a tip we should know? [email protected]

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    Aaron Perine

    Aaron Perine is a writer that covers Free Streaming TV, normal TV, small TV (the kind that plays on your phone mostly!), and even movies sometimes!

    Phase Hero co-host. Host of Free Space: The Free Streaming TV Podcast.

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    Aaron Perine

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  • Box Office Meltdown: ‘Regretting You’ Tops Worst Halloween Weekend in 31 Years With $8.1 Million

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    Paramount and Constantin Films’ romance-drama Regretting You — the second Colleen Hoover book adaptation to hit the big screen after It Ends With Us — is proclaiming itself the victor of this year’s Halloween box office contest.

    According to Sunday estimates from David Ellison’s new regime, Regretting You placed No. 1 with $8.1 million from 3,245 cinemas in its sophomore outing.

    Or did it? Universal is likewise estimating a first-place finish for Blumhouse’s Black Phone 2 with $8 million from 3,425 cinemas. Most rival studios also show the horror sequel, now in its third weekend, coming in ahead of Regretting You).

    But Paramount has good reason to be bullish. Last weekend, Regretting You did switch positions with Black Phone and place No. 2 when final numbers came in, with Regretting You beating the Blumhouse pic by a safe margin. Monday will determine the correct order of the Oct. 31-Nov. 2 frame and whether Paramount was being too aggressive in the hunt for a good headline.

    Generally in such situations, a studio in Universal’s position would call the contest a tie, but in this case, no one complained, considering overall ticket sales for the weekend came in at $49.8 million — the worst showing of the year to date.

    But that’s not the most frightening fact — it was the lowest-grossing Halloween weekend in 31 years, according to Comscore. This excludes 2020, when the COVID-19 crisis forced theater closures for months.

    The last time Halloween weekend revenue came in lower was in 1993, when combined ticket sales reached $49.2 million, and that’s not adjusted for inflation, according to Comscore chief box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian.

    “While this was a truly scary weekend for the industry, a confluence of factors created an imperfect marketplace storm wherein Halloween festivities along with one of the biggest sporting events on the planet [the World Series] dominated the zeitgeist over the weekend and thus had the effect of taking the spotlight off the movie theater experience,” says Dergarabedian, adding studios and cinemas should be commended for doing what they could up the holes.

    This year’s Halloween weekend meltdown — which follows the worst October in 27 years — is due to the lack of a big commercial title on the marquee, such as 2024’s Venom: The Last Dance. This year, exhibitors had to rely on an eclectic batch of holdovers; rereleases, including Back to the Future; and the expansion of Focus Features’ awards darling and specialty offering Bugonia.

    Halloween is alway a tough holiday for Hollywood and cinema owners, especially when the actual day falls on a Friday, as it did this year. Regretting You took a major hit that day since its target audience — younger females — were otherwise occupied. On Saturday, sales spiked 200 percent.

    Domestically, Regretting You has earned $27.5 million in its first 10 days. Overseas, it earned another $8.2 million from 56 markets for a foreign tally of $23.3 million and $50.8 million globally.

    Black Phone 2, a major win for Blumhouse, sailed past the $104 million mark over the weekend after finishing Sunday with a domestic tally of $61.5 million and $43.3 million internationally, including a weekend haul of $7.3 million.

    As expected, the acclaimed Japanese manga pic Chainsaw Man – the Movie: Reze Arc fell off steeply in its second weekend of play at the domestic box office, declining 67 percent to $6 million for a 10-day domestic tally of $30.8 and a dazzling $139 million globally. Sony’s Crunchyroll division is handling Chainsaw Man in the U.S. and a number of foreign markets, excluding Japan. Its share of the total gross is $87.4 million.

    Bugonia, from Focus Features, placed No. 4 with $4.8 million as it expanded into 2,043 theaters after first launching earlier this month in select theaters. That is the widest break ever for a film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, whose credits include Poor Things and The Favourite. Emma Stone (Poor Things) and Jesse Plemons lead the high-profile cast. Overseas, the specialty film earned $4.4 million from 47 markets for a foreign total of $5.3 million and $11.1 million globally.

    Disney provided a moment of levity when reporting grosses for the 40th anniversary rerelease of Back to the Future, saying it earned $4.7 million from 2,290 theaters in its “2,105th” week for a cume of $221.7 million (that isn’t adjusted for inflation). The classic pic placed an impressive No. 5 domestically and even beat Bruce Springsteen biographical drama and awards hopeful Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.

    Also from Disney, Deliver Me had to settle for No. 6 after falling off a steep 57 percent to $3.8 million from 3,460 theaters for a domestic total of $16.3 million. Overseas, it took in another $4 million from 40 material markets for a foreign tally of $14.3 million and $30.6 million globally. The filmmakers and Disney are hopeful the pic will have staying power because of its subject matter, originality and solid audience scores.

    In addition to Back to the Future and perennial Halloween favorite Rocky Picture Horror Show, other rereleases included screenings of all five Twilight movies timed to the 20th anniversary of Stephenie Meyer’s seminal first novel in the romance-vampire series. Fathom and Lionsgate partnered in bringing the movie adaptation of the books back to the big screen for five days, beginning Oct. 29 and concluding Nov. 2. Roughly 1,500 theaters participated and played a different film each night. Ticket sales through Sunday are an estimated $3.5 million, including $1.5 million for the Oct. 29 showing of the first film. (Because of the way it rolled out, the rerelease did not make the weekend top 10 chart).

    Paul Thomas Anderson‘s awards frontrunner and Leonardo DiCaprio starrer One Battle After Another, however, did remain in the top 10 chart in North America in its sixth outing, earning $1.2 million from 954 runs for a domestic total of $67.8 million. And defying the naysayers, it is approaching the $200 million mark globally after finishing Sunday with a foreign share of $123 million. It is far and away the filmmaker’s top-grossing film; his previous best was 2007’s There Will Be Blood ($77.2 million), unadjusted. And 2024’s Licorice Pizza, topped at at $37 million, which was considered a success for an indie title. (Granted, One Battle sports a far bigger budget but nevertheless is hanging in there, unlike a number of awards players.)

    Elsewhere, another special event pic trying to fill the gap mentioned by Dergarabedian was Depeche Mode: M, a concert pic from Sony Music Vision and Trafalgar that grossed $1.1 million domestically and $4.7 million overseas for a total of $5.7 million from more than 2,600 cinemas across 70 countries after opening midweek (Imax screens ponied up 29 percent of all ticket sales). Conceived and directed by Mexican filmmaker Fernando Frías, the concert pic celebrates the band’s global influence while also delving into the profound connection between death, music, mortality and Mexican tradition the band captured during their 2023 Memento Mori tour. 

    Nov. 2, 12 p.m.: Updated with revised estimates.
    Nov.2, 4:15 p.m.: Updated with additional foreign estimates.

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    Pamela McClintock

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  • Box Office Upset: ‘Chainsaw Man’ Eyes $15M-$17M Win, Colleen Hoover Strikes Again With ‘Regretting You’

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    Japanese anime feature Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is off to an impressive start at the U.S. box office, where it topped Friday’s chart with $8.5 million from 3,003 theaters. The acclaimed manga pic — now on course to open to a better-than-expected $15 million to $17 million — boasts a 96 percent critics score and a 99 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, a rarely seen combo, in addition to an A CinemaScore.

    Friday’s earnings include a stellar $3.4 million in Thursday previews.

    Since launching in cinemas last month in Japan, Chainsaw Man — The Movie has already grossed north of $64 million at the global box office. Sony and Crunchyroll are handling the movie domestically and in select overseas markets. Produced by the team at MAPPA, the R-rated pic is based on the hit manga-turned-anime TV series that is available to stream in the U.S. on Disney+, Crunchyroll and other platforms.

    Chainsaw Man follows the adventures of Denji (Kikunosuke Toya), a teenager and demon hunter who is killed by his overlords, the yakuza. But when his beloved chainsaw-powered, devil-dog Pochita (Shiori Izawa) makes a deal and sacrifices himself, Benji is reborn with the ability to transform parts of his body into chainsaws. Along with violence, the pic doubles as a teenage romance with the arrival of the mysterious Reze. However, Reze is not quite who she seems, and a series of battles ensues that could destroy Tokyo when their love story takes a twisted turn.

    Directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara, the film is based on Tatsuki Fujimoto’s original story, with a screenplay by Hiroshi Seko. “It’s safe to say that manga and anime fans won’t be disappointed, even if they’ll inevitably be nitpicking about one narrative aspect or another,” writes THR in its review.

    Heading into its U.S. opening, Chainsaw Man was expected to battle Blumhouse and Universal’s holdover hit Black Phone 2 for No. 1 with a debut in the $11 million to $12 million range. But it quickly pulled ahead of the pack thanks to males, who made up 75 percent of all ticket buyers, and younger moviegoers, with more than 50 percent of ticket buyers under the age of 25. It’s also drawing an ethnically diverse audience, including over-indexing among Asian moviegoers (17 percent), according to PostTrak.

    In second surprise twist, Regretting You — the second Colleen Hoover book adaptation to hit the big screen after 2024’s box office blockbuster It Ends With Us — pulled ahead of Black Phone 2 and Disney’s new bio-drama Deliver Me From Nowhere: Springsteen to come in second on Friday with a better-than-expected $5.2 million from 3,593 locations for an estimated opening of $13 million (rival studios aren’t sure it will actually hit that mark).

    Many expected Regretting You to be dinged by generally withering reviews, but the female-fueled pic is garnering strong exits on PosTrak and boasts an audience score of 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes (its CinemaScore, however, was only a B). It’s also clearly benefiting from a glut of male-skewing fare that has dominated the marquee for months, and is also a testament to Hoover’s enduring popularity among younger women and teenagers. (She’s one of many who have been caught up in the ongoing legal battle between It Ends With Us director/producer Justin Baldoni and actress/producer Blake Lively). Females made up nearly 85 percent of Friday’s audience, while 73 percent of all ticket buyers were under the age of 35.

    The new film is described as a romantic drama that speaks to the aspirational theme of living life fully and with no regrets. Constantin Films produced and financed the movie, with Paramount acquiring domestic and certain overseas rights. Internationally, the film opens this week in 40 markets, including the U.K., Australia, Brazil and Mexico.

    Instead of holding Thursday previews, Paramount hosted a special Regretting You fan event at AMC Lincoln Square in New York City, which was streamed live into 500 theaters across the country. The screening of the pic was accompanied by a Q&A with director Josh Boone and cast members Allison Williams, Dave Franco and Mason Thames.

    Saturday will determine whether Regretting You can hold its lead over Blumhouse and Universal’s holdover hit Black Phone 2, which earned $3.8 million on Friday and is projecting a debut in the $12 million-plus range. The pic is holding in remarkably well for a horror title, and should continue to take advantage of being the only major studio horror film opening nationwide over the Halloween corridor this year.

    Disney’s bio-drama Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere is now expected to come in fourth with $9 million to $10 million after earning $3.5 million on Friday, including $850,000 in Thursday previews. The movie is skewing notably older, which is no surprise. More than 60 percent of ticket buyers on Friday were 45 and older, including 40 percent over the age of 55. Its Rotten Tomatoes critics score presently rests at 66 percent; the RT audience score is far stronger at 83 percent. And it earned a B+ CinemaScore.

    Springsteen, playing in a total of 3,460 cinemas, should see a boost from 250 IMAX runs and an additional 750 in other premium large-format auditoriums. The music-infused pic stars Jeremy Allen White in the titular role, and he is credited in THR‘s review for giving a “raw and internalized performance as The Boss.” Jeremy Strong, Stephen Graham and Odessa Young also star in director Scott Cooper’s examination of a brutal comedown after a blockbuster tour, which yielded the prolific musician’s most personal album.

    It remains to be seen how much of an impact the first two games of this year’s World Series — which pits the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Toronto Blue Jays — have on the weekend box office. Generally speaking, NFL games pose far more competition. At the same time, L.A. is the largest moviegoing market alongside New York City (it is also the biggest market for anime). Friday night’s opening game of the World Series, as well as Saturday’s, are both in Toronto.

    At the specialty box office, Neon is launching Shelby Oaks in 1,823 locations. Marking YouTube movie critic Chris Stuckmann‘s debut feature, the found-footage pic is eyeing an opening in the $2 million to $2.5 million range. So far, its main claim to fame is that it raised $1.4 million via a Kickstarter campaign, the highest amount ever for a horror title, per the crowd-sourcing platform. Neon later provided some additional funds.

    Focus Features’ awards contender Bugonia is also making headlines in its limited debut at the specialty box office, and is on course to post an opening per-location average of $32,765 from 17 cinemas, one of the best platform starts of the year to date (it will also be the top location average of the weekend by a long shot). Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, the acclaimed film stars Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons.

    Oct. 25, 9:30 a.m.: Updated with Friday grosses.

    This story was originally published Oct. 24 at 6:43 p.m.

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    Pamela McClintock

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  • ‘Black Phone 2’ Rings Up a Box Office Win for Blumhouse

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    October’s big horror movie, Black Phone 2, has opened strong for Blumhouse, and took home #1 at the box office.

    Per Deadline, the sequel to Universal’s 2022 horror hit made $42 million worldwide, with $26.5 million of it coming from North America. Both takes are slightly above the respective $23.3 million (domestic) and $35.8 million (global) of its predecessor’s start, and give Blumhouse a much-needed win after its earlier horror flicks in 2025 like M3GAN 2.0 and Wolf Man underperformed.

    Directed again by Scott Derrickson and starring much of the first film’s cast—Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, and Miguel Cazarez Mora—Black Phone 2 sees Hawke’s child-abducting Grabber dead, but terrorizing the kids who defeated him via another black phone stationed at a kids camp. The first movie was based off a short story by Joe Hill, but the story for this one is wholly original, and reception to this sequel has been generally positive.

    Meanwhile, Tron: Ares fell 65% in North America, adding another $11.1 million for a new domestic total of $54.6 million. Disney’s legacy threequel didn’t fare much better internationally; it earned another $14.1 million, but did not land at all with Chinese audiences in its debut weekend. With its new $103 million global total, it’s looking likely that the series won’t have much of a future going forward. As for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, Netflix hasn’t shared any box office numbers yet, but that tune may change as its limited (and slightly confusing) release expands to other theaters next weekend.

    Speaking of “next weekend,” we’ve got Yorgos Lanthimos’ comedy flick Bugonia, Tina Romero’s Queens of the Dead, and Chris Stuckmann’s horror debut Shelby Oaks all hitting theaters on October 24. Halloween weekend doesn’t have any genre films, but November 7 has Predator: Badlands.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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    Justin Carter

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  • How ‘Black Phone 2’ Resurrected the Grabber

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    Any hit movie will naturally spark talk of a sequel—especially a hit horror movie, thanks to the genre’s fondness for franchises that rack up multiple entries. But in the case of 2021’s The Black Phone, the story hit a pretty definitive endpoint when kidnapped Finney (Mason Thames) tapped into everything he’d learned from his ghostly allies and defeated the Grabber (Ethan Hawke) once and for all. Except, he didn’t, because Black Phone 2 is open in theaters today. How did that happen?

    Director Scott Derrickson, who wasn’t originally planning on a sequel, revealed the tempting pitch he got from Joe Hill—author of the original short story the first film was based on—to the Hollywood Reporter: “The Grabber calls Finn from hell.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, the Grabber is on the other line. Sure, that’s great, and it opens up a lot of possibilities.’” Supernatural possibilities.

    The Grabber’s connection to Finney (called Finn in the sequel, now that he’s a bit older) and his sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw)—beyond the events of the first film, that is—is a new reveal in the sequel that we won’t spoil here. But the twist is something that helped Derrickson further get his head around extending the story.

    “It got me thinking about story possibilities in a way that I couldn’t really stop. Having finished it now, it’s a big enough reveal in a movie that doesn’t have a lot of twists and turns … and knowing that we were going to build toward that in some form, it gave us an emotional spinal cord for the movie,” he said. “The most difficult thing in the process of constructing the rest of the skeleton on that spinal cord was how to involve the Grabber and bring him back from the dead in a frightening way and in the lives of these kids. So it took a lot of time and effort and discussion to figure out how we were going to do that.”

    THR asked if a third film could be on the way to make a Black Phone trilogy, and Derrickson didn’t rule it out, though he said, “I haven’t spent any time thinking about a third movie. I think it’s important not to do that.”

    He continued, “Once you’re trying to plot out sequels and expand into a cinematic universe, you’re inevitably, by definition, limiting story possibilities. So I just haven’t thought about it. I really wanted to make this movie, and my goal was to make a better movie than the first one. So I haven’t considered what the franchise could be, and it’s just not something that’s really entered my mind yet.”

    Black Phone 2 is in theaters now.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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    Cheryl Eddy

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  • Review For The Easily Distracted: Black Phone 2 – Houston Press

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    Title: Black Phone 2
    Describe This Movie Using One Meatballs Quote:
    CAMP MOHAWK COUNSELORS: “We are the C.I.T.s, so pity us.“
    Brief Plot Synopsis:
    Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: 1.5 Henry Rollins out of 5.

    Credit: Wikipedia

    Tagline: “Dead is just a word.”
    Better Tagline: “So is ‘cash grab.’ Wait, that’s two.”
    Not So Brief Plot Synopsis: Did you miss the Grabber (Ethan Hawke)? Well, he’s back, which is good news for you, but bad for Finney Blake (Mason Thames), who’s still dealing with the trauma of being held captive by the Grabber before killing him. Meanwhile, nightmares about three murdered little boys plague his sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw). The murders appear linked to a mountain camp where their mother was a counselor, so of course Finney, Gwen, and Ernesto (Miguel Mora), the little brother of Finney’s murdered friend Robin, apply for counselor-in-training jobs to get to the bottom of everything.

    YouTube video

    “Critical” Analysis: If you were puzzled by the news that 2021’s The Black Phone was getting a sequel, you’re not alone. Ethan Hawke’s “Grabber” appeared well and truly dead at the end of that movie (spoiler!), but some forces are greater than death. Specifically, $161 million global box office on an $18 million dollar budget. It’s a miracle.

    Set four years after the events of the first movie, Black Phone 2 uses a concept from original story author Joe Hill as inspiration. Naturally, it has to pivot to accommodate pesky things like the death of its antagonist. Director Scott Derrickson and co-writer C. Scott Cargill evidently felt the best way to accomplish this was a mashup of the summer (well, winter) camp slasher vibes of Friday the 13th with the somnambulant escapades of A Nightmare on Elm Street. The results are less than the sum of those parts.

    One thing that does work is the shifting of the focus to Gwen. It’s her dreams that move the plot, giving McGraw the lion’s share of the dramatic work, and she’s mostly up to the task. It’s just too bad her range of emotion isn’t in service of a better movie. Same goes for Demián Bichir, playing Armando, the owner/manager of the camp. Bichir brings some much-needed gravitas, something of a tall order when trying to have serious conversations about a dream killer.

    A good deal of what made The Black Phone work was its grounding in the real world. The paranormal elements were integral to the plot, but didn’t overwhelm it (and Derrickson really captured those late ’70s earth tones). Here, the Grabber is presented as Freddy Krueger without any antecedent or explanation until well into the movie, and only thanks to the flimsiest of horror tropes.

    Why the long face, buddy? Credit: Universal Pictures

    The pacing is also a problem. The original was somewhat ponderous as well, but at least it moved with purpose. Black Phone 2 too often bogs down in expository dialogue or rubbing our noses in scenes of kids getting hacked up. There’s an almost temporal distortion about the first hour, where Gwen’s sleepwalking is at the fore and not a lot happens until events contrive to get our trio to the camp.

    Black Phone 2 is not without humor, though. Once the kids get there, this mostly comes from the interaction between the often foul-mouthed Gwen and Barb (Maev Beaty ), one of the Christian camp’s staff. Armando’s niece Mustang (Arianna Rivas) also earns extra credit for pointing out to Barb that cowering in fear from threats isn’t “true Christian behavior.”

    As for Hawke, he’s top-billed, but it’s hard to shake the impression there’s some “Pedro Pascal in The Mandalorian” deception going on. That’s his voice as the Grabber, but aside from a few close-ups, anyone could be behind that mask.

    None of the probably matters. The original Black Phone was a huge hit, and its sequel lands in theaters two weeks before Halloween. That’ll probably be enough to overcome that Black Phone 2 magnifies many of the originals movie’s negatives without offering much more beyond that than pastiche.

    And Duran Duran didn’t play in Denver until 1987.

    Black Phone 2 is in theaters today.

    This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

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    Pete Vonder Haar

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  • Megan Fox, the Grabber, Mike Flanagan, and more brought fans joy at Blumfest NYCC 2025!

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    On Friday, October 10, Blumhouse hosted its annual BlumFest, a panel at New York Comic Con where cast and creatives–including Jason Blum–discuss the upcoming slate of projects. This year marks 15 years for the company, so fans were ready for something big.

    Announcements from the panel included films like the Black Phone 2 (which releases next week), the upcoming Insidious 6, and a look at some of the game titles coming to Blumhouse Games. The announcement of Sleep Awake, a first-person psychedelic horror set in the far future, was given by none other than Nine Inch Nails’s Robin Finck, who is the game’s creative director.

    The biggest draw was the upcoming Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. While it seemed that the panel was beginning to wrap up and we would be left with nothing more than a brief announcement, Blum was joined onstage by the film’s director, Emma Tammi, and Elizabeth Lail, who plays Vanessa Shelly. Moments later, the stage was crashed by none other than Matthew Lillard, who plays the film’s villain, William Afton.

    While no additional trailer or footage was shown, fans were treated to a horrifying sight: Out of the darkness of the wings ambled two life-size animatronics of Toy Freddy and Toy Bonnie. While I wilted in horror, the rest of the room screamed their delight as the voice actors behind these wretched costumes were revealed.

    Surprise casting announcements ahead

    Toy Freddy will be voiced by Kellan Goff, who voiced Glamrock Freddy, Sun, and Moon in the game Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach. Toy Bonnie will be voiced by none other than Matthew Patrick (MatPat) of the YouTube channel The Game Theorists.

    One final announcement was made, and was undoubtedly the most shocking of them all: Toy Chica as played by Megan Fox. Though Fox could not be at the panel, her involvement seemingly comes down to her kids being fans of the material.

    Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 hits theaters December 5. The fate of a third installment is still up in the air, but not for long, according to Lillard. He promised the crowd that if enough love was shown for the sequel, the third installment would be as good as guaranteed.

    BlumFest felt bare this year, but many of the company’s projects are still early in development. Sleep Awake seems like the most exciting thing on their roster by far, so it will be interesting to see the fan reactions to it once it is released.

    (featured image: Craig Barritt/Getty Images for ReedPop)

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    Rachel Tolleson

    Rachel (she/her) is a freelancer at The Mary Sue. She has been freelancing since 2013 in various forms, but has been an entertainment freelancer since 2016. When not writing her thoughts on film and television, she can also be found writing screenplays, fiction, and poetry. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her cats Carla and Thorin Oakenshield but is a Midwesterner at heart. She is also a tried and true emo kid and the epitome of “it was never a phase, Mom,” but with a dual affinity for dad rock. If she’s not rewatching Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul she’s probably rewatching Our Flag Means Death.

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    Rachel Tolleson

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  • Black Phone 2’s Rotten Tomatoes Score Promises Horror Fans a Worthy Sequel Movie

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    Black Phone 2 reviews are beginning to arrive, with the film looking to promise a worthy sequel to the 2021 horror movie of the same name.

    What are the Black Phone 2 reviews saying?

    Over on Rotten Tomatoes, Black Phone 2 is currently sitting at an 80-81% rating, which matches the 2021’s original score. Black Phone 2 has 25 reviews as of now, most of which are positive and praising of the film’s style and general step up from the original.

    Rogert Ebert’s Brian Tallerico said the film is a “tick too long,” but is “at its best when it leans into surreal nightmare logic, but this weird movie works its fear factor in unexpected, creative ways.” Slant Magazine’s Rocco T. Thompson praised director Scott Derrickson, saying he “collapses dreams, reality, past, and present sidelong into a singular cinematic haunted space.”

    Elsewhere, Variety’s Peter Debruge called the film “remarkably scary,” while Bloody Disgusting’s Meagan Navarro praised it’s “strong vision” and “unique interpretation of horror classics.”

    Based on characters created by Joe Hill, the script for Black Phone 2 comes from Derrickson & C. Robert Cargill. The cast further includes Demián Bichir, Arianna Rivas, Miguel Mora, Jeremy Davies, Maev Beaty, and Graham Abbey. Derrickson, Cargill, and Jason Blum produce the movie, while Ryan Turek, Adam Hendricks, Daniel Bekerman, and Jason Blumenfeld serve as executive producers.

    Black Phone 2 arrives on October 17, 2025.

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    Anthony Nash

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  • ‘Black Phone 2’ Is Everything You Want In a Horror Sequel

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    More often than not, horror sequels are weak imitations of the original, a cheap, quick, cash grab that hits the same beats in a slightly different way. Black Phone 2 is not that. It’s a sequel that changes and elevates the original in ways you’d never expect. You learn more about the world, the characters, the killer, and by the end, it’s almost as if the original was merely a table setting for the horrors of its follow-up.

    Once again directed by Scott Derrickson, based on a script by him and C. Robert Cargill, Black Phone 2 picks up four years after the original. In that film, Finney (Mason Thames) was kidnapped by The Grabber (Ethan Hawke), whom he eventually killed with the help of the ghosts of The Grabber’s other victims, and the paranormal abilities of his little sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw). Gwen’s bravery and plucky personality were highlights of that movie, but she was largely relegated to the sidelines. Here, not only do we get more of her, Black Phone 2 is basically her movie, and it’s better off for it.

    The original film also killed The Grabber pretty definitively, so when Gwen starts dreaming about an old set of murders, and Finney starts getting phone calls from him, things instantly change. They’re no longer dealing with a real-life person in their neighborhood—it’s now something scarier, and with a history that goes back decades.

    Black Phone 2 has a lot to establish at the start, and, for that reason, it takes a while to get going. We spend time with Finney and Gwen in their high school, which is more violent, but also more romantic. We see what the events of the first movie have done to them and the world around them. There’s also the whole new story, which centers on a winter camp that Gwen keeps dreaming of. The film has to clearly establish why this brother and sister would willingly go to this camp, knowing the horror that might await. Eventually, there’s a very good hook, but that then requires even more exposition to flesh out.

    Once Black Phone 2 does get to the camp, though, everything changes. Not just in the story, but in the nature of the film itself. The first Black Phone was largely a supernatural thriller where we chewed at our fingernails hoping Finney and the ghosts could outsmart The Grabber. Now, The Grabber is dead, so his contacting the siblings constitutes a whole new brand of horror. And when you filter that through Gwen’s dreams, there are more than a few shades of Freddy Krueger along the way.

    © Universal Pictures

    Beyond that, the film borrows quite liberally (but never distractingly) from other classic horror films of the 1970s and 1980s. The snowy setting brings to mind The Shining; that it’s a camp near a lake brings to mind Friday the 13th. (In addition to Nightmare on Elm Street, there are other winks and nods throughout.) This all works in tandem to make Black Phone 2’s transformation from a thriller like the original into a more of a slasher movie feel seamless. It works beautifully, and lets the gore start flowing in ways that go well beyond the original film.

    Most importantly, the best thing about Black Phone 2 is Finney and Gwen. Their relationship was the best part of the original, and here they’re together for the entire film. Thames is excellent as the hardened Finney, a boy completely changed by everything he’s gone through. But the true star is McGraw, whose potty-mouthed, religious-leaning dream warrior is funny, heartbreaking, heroic, and delightful all at once. Every time we’re with either of them (or preferably both), the film shines that much brighter. Throw in Demián Bichir as the head of the camp, Jeremy Davies returning as the father, and the original film’s star Miguel Mora—who played the kick-ass Robin in that film and returns here as his brother Ernesto—and you’ve got more than enough to bring Black Phone 2 to entirely new levels.

    And it does go to all new levels. Without spoiling too much, Black Phone 2 not only evolves the nature of the franchise, but it also adds more mythology and depth to it. We learn things here that recontextualize everything we saw in the original, which yes, largely has to do with how and why The Grabber became so incredibly evil. In that aim, Ethan Hawke is as terrifying as ever, even as we mostly see him in the mask.

    Black Phone 2 may take a while to get going, but its lead performances, primary relationship, and twists make it well worth the trip. It’s filled with great horror moments, a few laughs, and even a nice shot of emotion to tie everything together. The first film was certainly solid, but this one is excellent. The rare sequel that outshines its predecessor.

    Black Phone 2 had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest 2025 and opens everywhere on October 17.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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    Germain Lussier

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  • AMC Hopes Its New Slash Pass Lures Horror Fans Into Theaters

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    This weekend’s The Conjuring: Last Rites kicks off fall’s slate of horror movies, and AMC Theaters wants to use the occasion to get more butts in seats. Enter, the Slash Pass.

    Beginning with Last Rites, theatergoers can use the Pass to see six participating horror movies, or do different combinations like seeing one of the specific movies with five of their friends. Horror movies tend to do pretty well financially, something AMC’s senior marketing VP Ellen Copaken highlighted in the press release: “Horror has quickly become one of our most popular genres, especially among Gen Z audiences, who know [they’re] best enjoyed in the comfortable, communal environment of our theatres.”

    For those interested, the Slash Pass will cost you $66.66 and last through the remainder of 2025. Films under its purview include next week’s The Long Walk, along with Him on September 19, October 17’s Black Phone 2 and Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 on December 5. It can also be applied toward classic horror movies coming back to AMC for its “Thrills & Chills” banner. That selection of films includes the original Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Scream, Candyman, and Terrifier. 

    If any of this sounds up your scary alley, you can read the full selection of films and the Slash Pass’ rules here.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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    Justin Carter

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