The Black Phone 2 director reveals the one "main difference" between the original horror movie and its upcoming "more graphic" sequel

If you thought The Black Phone was scary, then strap in for its much more terrifying big brother as director Scott Derrickson explains the major difference between the 2021 horror film and The Black Phone 2.

"The main difference is that it's a high school coming of age movie, in the same way that the original movie was a middle school coming of age movie, but those are two very different sorts of things," says Derrickson to GamesRadar+. "You know, a high school coming-of-age movie demands more. It has to be more visceral. It has to be, I think, more graphic, scarier."

The Black Phone follows a 13-year-old boy named Finley who is kidnapped by a masked assailant and held in a soundproof basement. The movie scared audiences silly with Ethan Hawke’s chilling performance as child killer The Grabber, so much so, the figure has since earned a spot at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights. With that, it will be interesting to see how Derrickson makes the sequel even "scarier."

According to the director, that's all down to Finley's maturity. "I think that the change that occurs in human beings between middle school and high school, that's some of the biggest change you go through in your life," Derrickson tells us. "And so to be able to revisit these characters who've really developed as people in the four years between the movies was also very interesting to me."

However, as scary as the sequel may be, the difference in Finley’s age will also add another factor to the story: love. "[Romance] has a place, even in the movie I just shot, The Black Phone 2, I just finished production on that," explains Derrickson. "I think that I'm interested in it because I think the two most powerful feelings that we have in our lives are love and fear."

The director explores romance even further in his upcoming movie The Gorge starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller as two trained snipers appointed to guard watchtowers over a large gorge. But as the two are kept apart by the vast valley beneath them, they must work together to protect the world from the evil that lies below. The genre-bending horror slash romance slash action movie also stars Sigourney Weaver.

The Black Phone 2 has now wrapped filming and finished production, as confirmed by Derrickson, who adds, "I think we shot something very unique." However, Blumhouse has yet to release an official synopsis of the movie. It looks like the bulk of the main cast is returning too, including Hawke as The Grabber – which will certainly be interesting as he seemingly died in the last movie.

The Gorge is released on February 14, 2025 on Apple TV Plus and The Black Phone 2 hits theaters on October 17, 2025, just in time for Halloween! For more, check out our list of the best horror movies, or keep up with upcoming horror movies heading your way.