‘Black Phone 2’ Rings Up a Box Office Win for Blumhouse

Blumhouse Productions has found its footing again with Black Phone 2, as the supernatural sequel stormed into the top spot at the box office this weekend. Directed by Scott Derrickson and produced by Jason Blum, the follow-up to 2021’s sleeper hit has opened to $26.5 million in North America and $42 million worldwide, marking a major win for Universal’s horror slate.

Arriving three years after the original became one of Blumhouse’s most acclaimed releases, Black Phone 2 reunites Derrickson with stars Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw. The new chapter expands on the eerie mythology of Joe Hill’s short story, picking up four years after the death of the Grabber and shifting the focus to Gwen Blake, whose psychic dreams draw her and her brother Finney back into a world of terror.

This time, the ghosts of the past are tied to an abandoned youth camp in the snowy wilderness, where secrets buried beneath a frozen lake unleash a new haunting. The return of Hawke as the Grabber in spectral form brings the story full circle, turning what was once a tightly contained thriller into a more ambitious and atmospheric supernatural mystery.

For Derrickson, the film represents a homecoming of sorts. After stepping away from the Doctor Strange sequel in 2020, he returned to horror with The Black Phone, which grossed more than $160 million on a modest budget. Its success reaffirmed his ability to balance character-driven storytelling with psychological terror, and Black Phone 2 builds on that legacy, combining the emotional resonance of Sinister with the bleak beauty of Deliver Us from Evil.

The film’s early momentum has also helped re-energise Blumhouse following a mixed run of recent titles. Despite franchise entries such as M3GAN 2.0 and Wolf Man struggling to connect, the studio’s strength has always been in high-concept horror told with restraint and precision. With Black Phone 2’s strong word of mouth and a low $30 million budget, the film is poised to become one of the year’s most profitable genre releases.

Ethan Hawke’s return as the masked killer cements his standing as one of modern horror’s most unsettling figures, while young leads Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw again provide the emotional core. New addition Demián Bichir brings weight and menace as the camp’s secretive caretaker, further grounding the film’s sense of dread.

As Black Phone 2 continues its global rollout, its early success signals not just a comeback for Blumhouse but a reaffirmation of the enduring power of horror at the cinema. With an upcoming Five Nights at Freddy’s sequel already on the calendar and continued appetite for fresh scares, Blumhouse appears ready to reclaim its title as Hollywood’s most reliable purveyor of nightmares.

Black Phone 2 is now playing in cinemas worldwide.

Black Phone 2 trailer