The Black Phone
A man with a white painted face wears a black top hat, glasses, the bottom half of a white mask with an exaggerated smile, a red turtleneck sweater, and a black jacket; the poster is tinted in film grain.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byScott Derrickson
Screenplay by
Based on"The Black Phone"
by Joe Hill
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyBrett Jutkiewicz
Edited byFrédéric Thoraval
Music byMark Korven
Production
companies
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release dates
  • September 25, 2021 (2021-09-25) (Fantastic Fest)
  • June 24, 2022 (2022-06-24) (United States)
Running time
103 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$16–18 million
Box office$162.1 million

The Black Phone is a 2021 American supernatural horror film[3] directed by Scott Derrickson and written by Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, who both produced with Jason Blum. It is an adaptation of the 2004 short story of the same name by Joe Hill. The film stars Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, James Ransone, and Ethan Hawke. In the film, an abducted teenager (Thames) uses a mysterious black rotary dial phone to communicate with the previous victims of his deranged captor (Hawke) in order to escape.

Derrickson went to direct The Black Phone after departing from Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness over creative differences. Filming occurred over two months in Wilmington and surrounding counties in the state of North Carolina.

The Black Phone premiered at Fantastic Fest on September 25, 2021, and was theatrically released by Universal Pictures on June 24, 2022. A box office hit, the film grossed $161 million worldwide and generally received positive reviews. A sequel is in development and set for release on June 27, 2025.

Plot

In 1978, a local serial child abductor and murderer only known as "The Grabber" prowls the streets of a suburb in North Denver. Finney Blake and his younger sister Gwen live in the area with their abusive, alcoholic father Terrence, whose wife committed suicide after having a series of disturbing psychic dreams. Finney is frequently bullied and harassed at school, but his friend and classmate Robin fends off the bullies.

Having inherited her mother's ability, Gwen dreams about the Grabber's abduction of Bruce, a boy Finney knew from Little League. Two police detectives, Wright and Miller, interview Gwen at school, believing that she may have knowledge about the Grabber. When Terrence learns about the questioning, he beats her with a belt. Soon afterward, the Grabber abducts first Robin and then Finney.

Finney awakens in a soundproofed basement with a disconnected black rotary dial telephone on one wall. It begins to ring on its own at times; Finney hears only static when he first answers it, but then hears Bruce's voice telling him about a floor tile he can remove in order to dig an escape tunnel. Finney starts to dig, but the foundations of the house are sunk too deeply for him to go beneath them.

The Grabber brings Finney a meal and leaves the basement door unlocked. As Finney is about to sneak out, he gets a call from Billy, another victim. Billy warns Finney that the Grabber is waiting at the top of the basement stairs to punish him if he tries to leave, as part of a cruel game. At Billy's suggestion, Finney uses a hidden length of cable to climb up to the basement window; however, his weight pulls out the grate covering the pane, leaving him with no way to reach it again.

As Gwen confides to Terrence about her dreams of Finney's abduction, Wright and Miller question an eccentric man named Max who is staying in the area with his brother and who has shown great interest in the Grabber's crimes. It is revealed that Finney is being held in Max's basement, and that the Grabber is his brother.

Finney receives a call from Griffin, a third victim, who gives him the combination to the lock securing the house's front door and tells him that the Grabber has fallen asleep. He sneaks out and unlocks the door, but the Grabber quickly recaptures Finney after his dog Samson barks to wake him. A fourth victim, a delinquent named Vance who was one of Finney's bullies, calls to tell him that he can break through a wall and into a freezer in the adjacent room. Finney does so, but finds the freezer door locked. As Finney despairs over his fate, he receives one last call from Robin, who urges him to stand up for himself and fight back by packing the phone receiver with dirt to use as a bludgeon.

After experiencing a vision of the Grabber's house, Gwen calls Wright and Miller to give them the address. The police rush to the house and find the bodies of the Grabber's victims buried in the basement. Meanwhile, Max realizes Finney is being held in the basement and rushes to free him, but the Grabber kills him with an axe and attacks Finney, having decided to end his game. Finney uses the byproducts from his previous escape attempts to trap the Grabber in a pit he has dug, beats him with the receiver, and breaks his neck with the phone cord as his past victims taunt him.

Throwing a steak from the freezer to Samson as a distraction, Finney leaves the house, which turns out to be across the street from the one the police have raided. Terrence tearfully begs Finney and Gwen to forgive his earlier treatment of them. Some time later, a newly confident Finney sits next to his crush in class and says she can call him Finn.

Cast

Ethan Hawke at the 2018 Montclair Film Festival in Montclair, New Jersey.
Ethan Hawke stars in the film as The Grabber.

Production

Scott Derrickson at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, California.
Director Scott Derrickson

Development

Scott Derrickson and frequent collaborator C. Robert Cargill decided to adapt Joe Hill's short story "The Black Phone" into a feature film while the former was working on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), a sequel to Doctor Strange (2016), which he had directed and co-written with Cargill. Cargill promised to postpone the project until Derrickson, who had a commitment with Marvel Studios, became available to direct. In January 2020, Derrickson came on board to helm The Black Phone soon after departing from the Doctor Strange sequel due to creative differences.[4][5]

The Black Phone was officially announced in October, with child actors Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw set to star.[6][7] Thames said his audition took place over Zoom soon after the COVID-19 pandemic began: "It was quite weird and we had bad Wi-Fi. I'd say a line and it would take a few seconds for them to say something back. It got a bit awkward. Eventually I got a callback."[8] In early 2021, Jeremy Davies,[9] Ethan Hawke,[10] and James Ransone were added to the cast.[11] Hawke said he was initially hesitant on playing the villain because he did not want to be remembered for a "scary" performance for the rest of his career, but changed his mind after realizing he was in his 50s. "Villains might be my future," he added.[12]

Filming

The film was shot on a $16–18 million budget.[13][14] Principal photography began on February 9, 2021, and concluded on March 27.[15][16] Filming took place at EUE/Screen Gems in Wilmington, North Carolina, and around the counties of New Hanover, Brunswick, and Columbus, under the working title Static.[17][18][19] Mark Korven composed the score during post-production,[20] and the film was completed by December 2021.[8]

For the construction of the film, Derrickson was inspired by the films The 400 Blows (1959), The Devil's Backbone (2001), Rosemary’s Baby (1968), and the novel A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.[21]

Marketing

Lon Chaney in character for "London After Midnight"
The Grabber's appearance was compared to Lon Chaney's character from London After Midnight.

The marketing campaign from Universal Pictures for The Black Phone began with the release of a trailer on August 25, 2021, at CinemaCon.[22] Variety said the film looked "scarier than the COVID-19 delta variant" and called it "the next possible franchise for Universal and Blumhouse."[23] Screen Rant described the reactions to the trailer at CinemaCon as "intense".[24] The film's poster was released on September 25, 2021. Screen Rant found it to be "terrifying" and said it would be "interesting to see if the film lives up to the hype".[24] Collider said the mask in the poster evoked Lon Chaney's character from London After Midnight (1927).[25] MovieWeb said the poster would "be behind your eyelids as you fall asleep tonight. ... we won't be able to see Ethan Hawke again without thinking of him as the terrifying and twisted Grabber. I've heard tell of his 'no villains rule', but clearly he's thrown that out the window."[26] The trailer was released online on October 13, 2021. It was described by Vulture as a "stranger danger PSA".[27] The A.V. Club said it looked like Hawke was "having a ball as the Pennywise-meets-Wonka child killer."[28]

Release

The Black Phone was theatrically released in the United States by Universal Pictures on June 24, 2022.[29] It was originally set for release on January 28 and later February 4 before being delayed again to June 24.[29][30][31] The film had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 25, 2021,[32] closed the Overlook Film Festival on June 5, 2022, and screened at the Tribeca Festival on June 18, 2022.[33][34]

Home media

The film was released for VOD on July 14, 2022, and made available to stream through Peacock on August 12, 2022.[35] The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD on August 16, 2022, and was released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on September 19, 2023, by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.[36] As part of an 18-month deal, the film streamed on Peacock for four months, before going to Amazon Prime Video on December 27, 2022, before moving back to Peacock after ten months, where it streamed for a final four months.

Reception

Box office

The Black Phone grossed $90.1 million domestically (United States and Canada), and $71.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $161.4 million,[37] against a budget of $16–18 million.[13] It placed 4th at the domestic box its opening weekend, the first of seven consecutive weeks in the Top 10.[38]

Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $67.8 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.[39]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 81% of 264 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.0/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Black Phone might have been even more frightening, but it remains an entertaining, well-acted adaptation of scarily good source material."[40] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 65 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[41] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak gave the film an 86% overall positive score, with 67% saying they would definitely recommend it.[42]

Screen Rant described the critical response as generally positive, with some criticism for the pacing and "number of scares" but praise for its faithfulness to the source material, Derrickson's direction, and Hawke's performance.[43] Heidi Venable of CinemaBlend agreed, pointing out reviews complimenting the child actors, musical score, and screenplay, and wrote, "It sounds like this Joe Hill adaptation should please moviegoers, as long as audiences know they're in for something deeper than just tried-and-true jump scares."[44]

Accolades

Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
2022
 Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Film Awards Best Horror The Black Phone Nominated [45]
Hollywood Music in Media Awards Original Score — Horror Film Mark Korven Nominated [46]
Saturn Awards Best Horror Film The Black Phone Won [47]
Best Supporting Actor in a Film Ethan Hawke Nominated
Best Writing Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill Nominated
Best Younger Actor in a Film Madeleine McGraw Nominated
Mason Thames Nominated
2023
Bram Stoker Award Superior Achievement in Screenwriting Scott Derrickson & C. Robert Cargill Won [48]
Hollywood Critics Association Film Awards Best Horror Film The Black Phone Won [49]
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards Best Wide Release Movie The Black Phone Won [50]
Best Screenplay C. Robert Cargill & Scott Derrickson Won [50]

Future

Sequel

In June 2022, Scott Derrickson said that while Joe Hill was protective of his story, the author had pitched him a "wonderful idea" for a sequel that he was open to directing if the first film was a success.[51] In August, Derrickson and Hill confirmed that there were discussions with the studio to make a sequel. Derrickson referred to the financial success of The Black Phone as one of the catalysts for the development of the project.[52] Hill said his inspiration to writing a sequel was based on the "iconic imagery" of the Grabber's masks.[53]

In October 2023, the film was officially announced by Universal Pictures with a scheduled release date of June 27, 2025.[54] The following month, it was reported that Hawke, Thames, McGraw, Davies and Mora would reprise their roles in the sequel. Derrickson and Cargill also returned to write the script.[1]

Related short film

Main article: V/H/S/85

In October 2023, Derrickson revealed that the segment he co-wrote with C. Robert Cargill for V/H/S/85 titled "Dreamkill" is a follow-up connected to Black Phone. The filmmaker explained the short takes place seven years after the feature film, and includes Gunther (played by Dashiell Derrickson), who is the cousin of Gwen (as played by Madeleine McGraw in Black Phone).[55][56]

References

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