Latest news with #Derrickson


Perth Now
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Scott Derrickson reveals how The Shining inspired Black Phone 2
Director Scott Derrickson has revealed the setting for 'The Shining' directly inspired his upcoming film 'Black Phone 2'. The 58-year-old filmmaker is bringing back child adductor The Grabber - played by Ethan Hawke - following the success of his 2022 supernatural horror, which was based on the characters featured in Joe Hill's collection of short stories '20th Century Ghosts'. The sequel is partly set at a place known as Alpine Lake Youth Camp and that wintery setting in the Rocky Mountains is the same location as The Overlook Hotel that sends Jack Torrance mad in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror classic which is based on Stephen King's book of the same name. Derrickson also wanted to acknowledge the tradition of school camp horror films - the most popular franchise being 'Friday the 13th' which is set at Camp Crystal Lake summer camp. In an interview with Collider, Derrickson said: "I really like to use weather as a character if I have an opportunity to do it, so the winter, Rocky Mountain camp environment was also an inspiration for me to say yes to doing the movie. Of course, you've got 'The Shining' that you're drawing on because that was The Overlook Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, where they filmed the exterior of that. "And, of course, you've got the little tradition of camp horror, but it's almost always summer camp. There aren't a lot of winter camp movies. I went to both as a high school kid, and it was always the winter camps that were more powerful and memorable." Derrickson also revealed that he put many of his own school experiences into 'The Black Phone' and the sequel - which is set four years after the events of the first film. He added: "It's really drawing on my experience as a high schooler. I poured so much of my childhood and early middle school years into 'The Black Phone'. "In high school, as I got older, I spent more and more time in the Rocky Mountains. I'd ski every weekend, and I spent a lot of time at these winter camps that they have up there. They're really incredible experiences. To be in the violence of that weather, the blizzards and all of that, the beauty of the surrounding mountains, to be in several feet of snow all the time, there's something mesmerizingly powerful about that." Derrickson admits the passage of time for the story was a major factor in him agreeing to make a sequel as he could explore what the effects of the first film's plot had on Mason Thames' character Finney and Madeleine McGraw's alter ego Gwen. He said: "As soon as the first movie was a hit, Universal was asking me to make a sequel, hoping I'd make a sequel. I didn't feel obliged to do that, but I certainly wasn't going to do it if I didn't have a reason to do it beyond any kind of cash grab. So I was looking for an idea, and Joe Hill emailed me a pitch for a sequel. Some of it I didn't respond to, but there was an idea within that email that I thought was fantastic that I had never thought of. So, I started to noodle on that idea. "Then, really, what made me decide to go ahead and commit to making a sequel was that I realised if I went and made another movie first and didn't go straight into a sequel, which I'm sure everybody would have liked, if I waited and made another movie first, then these kids would be in high school. "That became a very exciting prospect to me to be able to continue with these characters, but in a really different phase of their lives, both as characters and as actors. These kids would really be in high school, and we'd make a high school coming-of-age horror film as opposed to a middle school movie. Once I had that idea, I think that's when I committed to doing it." 'Black Phone 2' will be released in cinemas in October 2025.


See - Sada Elbalad
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
"The Black Phone 2" Is More Violent, Scarier, More Graphic, Says Director Scott Derrickson
Yara Sameh "Dead is just a word," that's the message behind Universal and Blumhouse's "The Black Phone 2". The official trailer unveiled Sunday at CCXP Mexico, a pop culture convention being held in Mexico City over the weekend. The movie is the sequel to the surprise 2022 hit that grossed $161 million against an $18 million budget. Based on a short story by Joe Hill, the son of Stephen King, the movie introduced audiences to the Grabber, a masked serial killer who abducts children, locking them up in his basement. One such kid, however, finds an unplugged but haunted rotary phone that connects him to the ghosts of the previous snatched boys, and in that a possible way out. The movie ends with the Grabber dead, so how is he back? The trailer shows builds to a chilling phone conversation between our hero, played by a returning Mason Thames, and the Grabber, once again played by Ethan Hawke, with the latter telling the teen, 'You of all people should know that dead is just a word.' Then the trailer unleashes a barrage of horror images. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Director and co-writer Scott Derrickson elaboratedthe nature of ghost stories. 'The first movie was a ghost movie but all the ghosts were victims, which is typical, a ghost story,' he said prior to the trailer 's reveal. 'But in this one, you've got a ghost that is a villain.' With the first movie, Derrickson tapped into his Denver childhood, where bullies and violence were common. For the new movie, he drew on his high school experience of going to winter camps in the Rocky Mountains. The severity of the weather, the environment and the surrounding Rockies contributed to the tone of the sequel. The difference between middle school and high school ages of the characters is the big change in tone. 'A middle school coming-of-age horror movie is a different animal than a high school coming-of-age horror film,' Derrickson added. 'A there's a ratcheting up of intensity because of that.' Derrickson wasn't necessarily planning on a sequel to "Black Phone" but said Hill wrote to him a month or two after the movie came out with some ideas. And having it set in the high school years proved appealing, especially when he worked out the timing in his head. 'I thought if I go make another movie first and don't make a sequel now like you're supposed to, then by the time I finish, these kids are all going to be in high school,' he explained. The movie he did was the large-budgeted monster Apple TV+ movie titled "The Gorge" with Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller. 'And I can return to these characters in this different stage of their lives.' And because of that, "Black Phone 2" is more of a horror film than the first movie, which he considers to be a supernatural thriller. 'It is certainly more violent, scarier, more graphic,' he said. 'And part of that is because of the age of the kids.' read more New Tourism Route To Launch in Old Cairo Ahmed El Sakka-Led Play 'Sayidati Al Jamila' to Be Staged in KSA on Dec. 6 Mandy Moore Joins Season 2 of "Dr. Death" Anthology Series Don't Miss These Movies at 44th Cairo Int'l Film Festival Today Amr Diab to Headline KSA's MDLBEAST Soundstorm 2022 Festival Arts & Culture Mai Omar Stuns in Latest Instagram Photos Arts & Culture "The Flash" to End with Season 9 Arts & Culture Ministry of Culture Organizes four day Children's Film Festival Arts & Culture Canadian PM wishes Muslims Eid-al-Adha News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies News Flights suspended at Port Sudan Airport after Drone Attacks News Shell Unveils Cost-Cutting, LNG Growth Plan


Perth Now
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Black Phone 2 is 'more violent, scarier, more graphic'
'Black Phone 2' is "more violent, scarier" and "more graphic" than the original film, according to director Scott Derrickson. The first movie - starring Mason Thames and Ethan Hawke - was based on a short story by Stephen King's son Joe Hill and was released in 2021 with the second instalment now due for release in October - and Derrickson has now told fans they can expect more gore in the follow-up. He told The Hollywood Reporter: "It is certainly more violent, scarier, more graphic. And part of that is because of the age of the kids." The first film followed the story of a teenage boy Finney Shaw (Thames) who is abducted by a serial killer called The Grabber (Hawke) and thrown into a soundproof basement. The youngster then finds out he can hear the voices of the villain's previous victims through a disconnected phone and they try to help him escape. Thames is back for the second film, and Derrickson revealed he wanted to make a follow-up quickly before the young castmembers aged too much. He added: "I thought if I go make another movie first and don't make a sequel now like you're supposed to, then by the time I finish, these kids are all going to be in high school." The second film was helped along by Hill, who sent the director some ideas, and Derrickson is convinced having a slightly older cast gives the film a different feel. He said: "A middle school coming-of-age horror movie is a different animal than a high school coming-of-age horror film ... There's a ratcheting up of intensity because of that." Derrickson previously admitted making a sequel 'wasn't a foregone conclusion". When Screen Rant asked the director what fans could expect from 'Black Phone 2', Derrickson said: 'A lot of surprises, for sure. I just finished shooting 'Black Phone 2', and what I can tell you is that I didn't feel obliged to make a sequel. It wasn't a foregone conclusion that I would make a sequel." On a production budget of roughly $18 million, 'Black Phone' grossed $161.4 million at the box office. Before his return for 'Black Phone 2' was confirmed, Hawke - who had previously worked with Derrickson on the 2012 horror flick 'Sinister' - said he would happily reprise his role as The Grabber in the sequel. The 'Before Sunrise' actor told Collider: 'I had a really wonderful experience making my first scary movie with him. We did a movie called 'Sinister', and he's just a real filmmaker. "I love the way he thinks about film and storytelling. And as I get older, I really enjoy working in different genres as an actor. It's a way to shape [and] change yourself as a performer. 'By trying to learn the math of what makes a great romantic comedy, what makes a great art film, what makes a great horror film, what makes a great Western, you know, there's a certain geometry to all that and Scott is brilliant at that. 'And so, basically, if he wants me to be in 'Black Phone 2', I'm gonna do it.' 'Black Phone 2' is due for release on 17 October 2025.


Time of India
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Can you survive the call? ‘The Black Phone 2' trailer hints at a terrifying new twist
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The chilling world of The Black Phone is back, and this time, the stakes are higher, the scares sharper, and the villain even more relentless. Universal and Blumhouse dropped the first trailer for The Black Phone 2 at Mexico City's CCXP convention, giving horror fans a spine-tingling preview of what's in store when the sequel hits theaters on October 17, director Scott Derrickson promises a film that's 'more violent, scarier, [and] more graphic' than its predecessor, reflecting both the characters' older ages and the darker tone of the story. 'A middle school coming-of-age horror film is fundamentally different from a high school coming-of-age horror story,' Derrickson told The Hollywood Reporter. 'There's an escalation of intensity because of that'.Where to Watch:The Black Phone 2 will premiere exclusively in movie theaters on October 17, 2025. Streaming and digital rental options are expected to follow after its theatrical run, with details to be announced closer to releaseThe sequel draws inspiration from Derrickson's own high school experiences in the Rocky Mountains, with the harsh winter landscape amplifying the film's chilling story picks up years after the original, with siblings Finney (Mason Thames) and Gwen (Madeline McGraw) now teenagers. But the terror isn't over: Ethan Hawke reprises his role as The Grabber, who returns from beyond the grave, haunting the teens through the infamous black rotary phone. 'Did you think our story was over? You of all people know that dead is just a word,' the Grabber menacingly intones in the trailer, promising bloody creative team remains largely intact, with Derrickson co-writing alongside C. Robert Cargill and Joe Hill, author of the original short story, serving as executive producers. New faces, including Oscar nominee Demián Bichir , join the cast, while returning favorites round out the Derrickson's vision and Hill's haunting ideas, The Black Phone 2 is poised to deliver a ghost story where the villain is now the phantom—a twist sure to keep audiences on edge. As Derrickson puts it, 'Dead is merely a term.' For horror fans, the phone is ringing once again—and this time, hell has truly frozen over.