Black Cellphone 2 Continues Hollywood’s Horror Sequel Pattern

Scott Derrickson’s Black Cellphone 2 will choose up a number of years after the occasions of the unique smash-hit film, and early evaluations point out it is going to be the most recent entry in an ongoing pattern for Hollywood horror sequels. Starring Ethan Hawke and Mason Thames, reprising their roles from the unique, Black Cellphone 2 sees the now-dead serial killer often known as the Grabber ascend to a brand new stage of supernatural menace.

The Black Cellphone was tailored by Derrickson and his long-time screenwriting collaborator C. Robert Cargill from a brief story by creator Joe Hill. The group of Derrickson, Cargill, and Hawke had been in a position to replicate the success of the celebrated 2012 supernatural horror film Sinister, as The Black Cellphone grossed over $161 million on a price range of simply $16-$18 million.

Black Cellphone 2 made its official debut at Incredible Fest 2025, that means there may be some commentary already logged from critics who’ve seen the film. Early evaluations have been excellent, and it presently sits simply two factors (79%) behind the unique film’s Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer Rating (81%). Whereas it is potential scores drop as extra folks see Black Cellphone 2, as of now it seems to be poised to proceed a major pattern in horror.

Horror Sequels Have Been Glorious In The Final Few Years

Hollywood is within the midst of a brand new golden age of horror, with professional Oscar-worthy motion pictures setting a brand new gold commonplace in what the horror style can truly be. Authentic horror motion pictures like The Substance, Weapons, and Sinners have all grabbed the moviegoing public’s consideration, and the appreciation for authentic horror seems to be greater than ever with so many proficient filmmakers behind the wheel.

Nevertheless, sequels to current properties are being acquired simply as properly. Whereas horror sequels was subpar imitations or continuations of the unique, they’ve advanced into highly-anticipated film occasions of their very own. If early evaluations are to be believed, then Black Cellphone 2 is the most recent in an extended line of actually high-quality sequels, lots of which change into wildly worthwhile as soon as they hit theaters.

Inside the previous few years, we have seen sequels from a number of the most iconic horror franchises yield the best vital evaluate scores of your entire franchise. Noticed X, for instance, made John “Jigsaw” Kramer the protagonist and earned the best Tomatometer rating of the franchise by a whopping 31-point margin (81% to Noticed‘s 50%).

Simply in 2025, Ultimate Vacation spot: Bloodlines and 28 Years Later set new franchise information for Tomatometer rating, whereas The Conjuring: Final Rites earned a franchise-record $521 million on the field workplace. After Smile exploded onto the horror scene in 2022, Smile 2 earned even higher evaluate scores from critics and audiences, whereas incomes again 5 instances its price range.

In some instances, horror sequels have acted as a extra fleshed-out model of the unique’s idea. The largest instance of the previous few years is the Terrifier franchise, which started with the ultra-low price range Terrifier in 2016. After it developed right into a cult traditional, creator Damien Leone moved ahead with the extremely profitable Terrifier 2, and eventually the vital darling and field workplace juggernaut Terrifier 3.

Whereas neither the Tomatometer rating nor a film’s field workplace haul are the defining measures of a film’s success, one level may be very clear: horror sequels are higher than they’ve ever been earlier than.

Sequel Earnings Now Justify The Dedication

Audiences have begun to indicate out in drive on the field workplace too, with 5 horror motion pictures already grossing $100M+ in 2025 alone. Of these 5, three are sequels: The Conjuring: Final Rites, Ultimate Vacation spot: Bloodlines, and 28 Years Later. Studios that put the sources and energy into sequels are beginning to see actual returns.

The character of the horror style, and by extension the horror viewers, is such that the important thing to establishing a great franchise is admittedly making an impression with an authentic. After you have a longtime model title, the fashionable built-in horror viewers will typically present up for sequels no matter their high quality. Nevertheless, if the previous few years have proved something, it is that greater high quality yields greater income.

The Strangers new trilogy is an fascinating instance of the sequel phenomenon. The Strangers is a cult traditional within the house invasion horror subgenre, and because of this the 2018 sequel, The Strangers: Prey at Evening, grossed $32 million in opposition to a $5 million price range regardless of middling evaluations.

Six years later, the primary chapter within the new reboot trilogy surpassed its predecessor on the field workplace regardless of horrible evaluations. Neither its comparatively new stars nor excellent phrase of mouth drove folks to theaters, proving that the attachment of The Strangers model title did the heavy lifting.

Black Cellphone 2 has all of the substances for a house run trendy horror sequel, most significantly the model title. Horror audiences already liked The Black Cellphone, so with all the identical parts coming again, we are able to safely anticipate the sequel to proceed the pattern of high-quality horror sequels in Hollywood’s new golden age of horror.

Launch Date

October 17, 2025

Runtime

114 Minutes

Director

Scott Derrickson

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  Mason Thames

  Finney Blake

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  Madeleine McGraw

  Gwen Blake

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  Demián Bichir

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