Joe Hill on BLACK TELEFONO 2, The sinister return of the Grabber and where the story could go next

When The black phone released in theaters, it quickly cemented its place as a modern horror favorite. Now, with Black phone 2 in theaters, fans are thrilled and terrified to see The Grabber make his chilling return. But where does this idea come from? Second Joe Hillit all started with the mask.

“The mask was made by Tom Savini AND Jason Baker,” Hill recalls. “I saw the mask with his swappable mouths: sometimes the devil’s face is smiling, sometimes he’s frowning, and sometimes he has no mouth at all.

“I saw that mask and thought, ‘Oh, I think there’s going to be a lot of these movies.’ It immediately struck me as iconic in the way that Freddy Krueger’s glove is iconic, in the way that Michael Myers’ mask is iconic.

“I thought, ‘This is nightmare fuel and people are going to want a lot of it.’ I thought he had the potential to be one of these great, memorable horror villains, and if that’s the case, I’d rather him appear in good films than bad films.

Black phone 2from Universal Pictures, is now playing nationwide. It arrives the same week as Hill’s huge new 900-page novel, King Sadnesswhich will be released on October 21st. But even with the book’s release looming, Hill’s enthusiasm for the Black Phone universe is impossible to miss.

The first film, directed by Scott Derrickson and co-written with C. Robert Cargillit was based on Hill’s original short story. The sequel expands that world, and this time it was Hill who pushed to make that happen.

“They didn’t know if they wanted to make a second movie,” Hill says. “The first film was wonderfully self-contained, so it wasn’t obvious that there should be a second film. But the fact is, it was right there.

“There’s this phone that Finney, our hero, uses to talk to people who have died. And I thought, ‘What if the next person who calls him is The Grabber in Hell? I told Scott and Cargill the idea, and Cargill in particular said, ‘Yes!’ I had other concepts that he liked: some he passed over and some ended up in the film. We were just kids spitting, seeing where we could land.

Black phone 2 reports Ethan Hawke as The Grabber, along with Mason Thames AND Madeleine McGraw like Finney and Gwen. This time, it is Gwen who begins to have disturbing dreams that connect her to the spirit of the killer her brother escaped from.

Hill knew that if he wanted to make a sequel, it had to be back in the hands of Derrickson and Cargill.

“If there was going to be a sequel, I wanted Scott and Cargill to do it because I was sure they would deliver quality,” Hill says. “They would offer something truly fun to watch, and the hallmark of their work is a deep affection for their characters and a sense of warmth in even the most icy films.

“Black phone 2 it’s quite cold, but you feel that warmth for the main character, for the kids. If there’s a sequel, hopefully we can convince them to do it, and then it’ll be nice.”

With regard to Black phone 3? Hill isn’t ruling it out, but he’s waiting to see how fans react.

“We’ll see if people want more. As we’re doing this interview, I saw some numbers in Thursday’s previews and they look pretty good.

“I’m pretty confident about the financial destination of the film. But people vote with their money. If people want Black Phone 3, they’ll let us know by slamming doors to go see Black Phone 2.”

And if there were a third film, Hill already has a direction in mind.

“One of the fun things about Black Phone is that the first story is about Finney in danger and his sister trying to save him,” Hill says. “He is the protagonist and she is the second key character.

“But in this movie, there’s a reversal where Gwen is the main character and her brother is trying to save her. To me, the logical thing is that if there’s a third movie, it’s two stars where they sit around trying to save each other. Maybe there’s a way to do that, maybe there’s not… we’ll have to see.”

Whether or not Black phone 3 happens, it’s clear that Joe Hill and The Grabber have unfinished business.

Source: variety