Black Phone 3 Not Planned — Derrickson and Cargill Say They’ll Only Return for a Truly Great Idea
The short answer: the creators of The Black Phone and Black Phone 2 say there’s no confirmed plan for a third movie, but they remain open if someone brings a strong, inspiring idea.
Quick answer
Director Scott Derrickson said he’s not thinking about long-running franchises right now. In his words, “I can’t think about filmmaking that way.” Hence, there have been *no* conversations so far about a Black Phone 3. Meanwhile, writer C. Robert Cargill added that the team would return if they found a “really great and inspiring” idea to justify the year-long commitment a film requires.
How Black Phone 2 happened
The sequel grew out of a pitch from author Joe Hill, who also wrote the short story that inspired the first movie. Cargill quoted Hill: “Joe Hill called me and said, ‘I have the dumbest idea,’ And I’m like, ‘I love dumb ideas!’” The core pitch included the image of “a phone rings, Finny answers, and it’s The Grabber calling from Hell,” plus other elements. Some of Hill’s suggestions made it into the film; some did not.
Also, the sequel intentionally expands the first film’s world and nods to other horror movies. For example, there are ice-skating references that a deep-cut fan might link to 1983’s Curtains. At the same time, connections to the A Nightmare on Elm Street series — especially Dream Warriors — are clearer.
Filmmakers on a third film
Cargill said, “Would we love to work with [Black Phone stars Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, and Ethan Hawke] again? Absolutely.” However, he emphasized that they won’t make a sequel just for the sake of a franchise. As he put it, making a movie “becomes part of your life for at least a year. So it’s really got to be something really great and inspiring for us to want to make a third one.”
Derrickson also noted the studio pressure that can follow a hit: “the day after opening weekend, Jeff Shell, the chairman of NBCUniversal, emailed me and said, ‘You’re going to make a sequel, right?’ And I was like, ‘I have no idea.’”
On the subject of long-running horror series, Derrickson gave his view of trilogies: “I don’t think there’s another trilogy that by itself is truly great, where all three films are excellent, and it can be argued that, in both cases, the sequel is better than the original, and the third film is better than the sequel.” He added, “I don’t know how I could possibly continue to work on any film franchise unless I was at least trying to do that.”
Where to see Black Phone 2
Black Phone 2 is currently in theaters. The sequel keeps the same protagonists and villain as the first film and expands the movie’s mythology while introducing new elements suggested during development.
