‘The Black Phone’ director says he’s ‘chewing on’ sequel ideas

One of the riskiest moves in horror is capitalizing on the success of an original movie by creating a less-than-favorable sequel — and while some horror sequels like Ouija: Origin of Evil and Evil Dead II are unequivocally superior to their predecessors, other horror movie sequels have notably failed to match the hype. And despite supernatural horror The Black Phone achieving commercial and critical success, director Scott Derrickson is now being faced with the decision to give the film a sequel or not.

While speaking with Screen Rant, Derrickson noted that while the demand for a sequel is understandable, he’s not in a rush to give a sequel a green light without first deciding if the follow-up film will be as great as the original.

“I’m chewing on some ideas. I’m not in a super big rush right now, but obviously, everybody wants there to be a sequel because the movie did so well. It’s something I’d like to do, but of course, I’ll only do it if it can be great.”

Just a few weeks ago, Derrickson echoed similar sentiments when he refused to close the door on a possible sequel — which hopefully serves as an indication for horror fans that a follow-up film could be on the horizon. And after how successful The Black Phone was on its own, a bone-chilling sequel will only increase our interest into The Grabber and his origin story.

The Black Phone is now available to stream on Peacock.