Baku, October 28, AZERTAC

Universal and Blumhouse have announced a sequel to the 2022 horror film, “The Black Phone,” set for June 27, 2025, according to Variety.

The companies say “The Black Phone 2” is the “launch of a sinister new franchise.”

The original movie starred Ethan Hawke, as a child abductor and murderer called the Grabber, and Mason Thames, a 13-year-old boy named Finney who crosses the killer’s path. The Grabber locks Finney in a soundproof basement, where nobody can hear him or come to his rescue. The only item is the basement is a disconnected telephone that begins ringing. When Finney answers it, he realizes he’s able to communicate with the spirits of the Grabber’s deceased victims. The kids’ ghosts teach Finney how to survive and fight back, and he’s able to escape the Grabber’s clutches in the end.

There is no casting or plot information available yet for “The Black Phone 2.”

Scott Derrickson (“Sinister,” “Doctor Strange”) directed “The Black Phone” and produced along with Jason Blum for Blumhouse and C. Robert Cargill. The cast included Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, E. Roger Mitchell, Troy Rudeseal, James Ransone and Miguel Cazarez Mora. The movie made more than $160 million worldwide and garnered mostly positive reviews. It won the 2022 Saturn Award for best horror film and the 2023 Hollywood Critics Association Film Award for best horror.

This year, Universal and Blumhouse have already released the killer doll hit “M3GAN,” which has a sequel “M3GAN 2.0” coming in 2025, and “The Exorcist: Believer,” the start of a new trilogy with the next chapter, “The Exorcist: Deceiver,” also arriving in 2025.