(Updated 06/20/2022)
The filmmakers behind DOCTOR STRANGE and SINISTER are back with a chilling new tale that has a surprising ingredient. Scott Derrickson directs THE BLACK PHONE, based on a short story by Joe Hill, about a masked kidnapper whose latest victim gets supernatural help.
In a nasty, delicious twist, the kidnapper is played by Ethan Hawke, who turns his megawatt charisma into something strange and frightening. Check out the trailer for THE BLACK PHONE and learn a lot more about the movie below!
Where Can You Watch The Black Phone?
THE BLACK PHONE can be seen exclusively in movie theatres when it opens on June 24, 2022.
Watch The Black Phone Trailer
Yikes! What a freaky trailer! The chilling spirit that pervaded SINISTER is at work here, too. There's a weird thrill to seeing Ethan Hawke play an explicitly evil character, and he seems to be having a nastily good time doing so. And while this trailer gives us the basic outline of THE BLACK PHONE's story, we can tell there are some big frights in store as the full tale unfolds.
The Origin of The Black Phone
THE BLACK PHONE is based on a short story by author Joe Hill. (The writer made his name on his own before he revealed the fact that his father is Stephen King. As Hill has gotten older, the resemblance between father and son is impossible to miss.)
That story, originally published in 2004 in the magazine "The 3rd Alternative," can be found in the collection "20th Century Ghosts." Hill's stories and novels are laced with victimized young people and communication between the living and the dead. In that way, THE BLACK PHONE is almost an ideal introduction to Hill's excellent horror writing.
Some ideas in the story are based on real crimes and urban legends about serial killers from the '70s and '80s. You've heard the tales of vans driven by people who lure kids and young people to a terrible fate? Well, THE BLACK PHONE starts there as it builds the story of Finney Shaw (Mason Thames), who is kidnapped by a mysterious masked figure.
The Cast of The Black Phone
The hook in THE BLACK PHONE is certainly Ethan Hawke, who plays a man known only as "The Grabber." The masks worn by Hawke, and the fact that he's playing somewhat against type, are appealingly unusual aspects of the movie.
But the rest of the cast is great, too. Mason Thames plays the main character, Finney Shaw, while Madeleine McGraw plays Gwen Shaw, and Jeremy Davies and James Ransone appear as well.
Is The Black Phone Related to Sinister?
No, THE BLACK PHONE is not related to the movie SINISTER, but we understand why you might wonder. They're both from the same filmmaker, Scott Derrickson, and his regular co-writer, C. Robert Cargill. Furthermore, Ethan Hawke stars in both movies.
Beyond the common creative team on both films, they are unrelated. And there's already a SINISTER sequel, released in 2015. That one was directed by Ciarán Foy and written by Derrickson and Cargill.
THE BLACK PHONE opens on June 24
All images courtesy of Universal Pictures.