Ethan Hawke Reunites With Black Phone 2 Director For New Horror Movie

Published Sep 2, 2026, 7:08 PM EDT Adam Bentz is a senior news writer at ScreenRant, where he has authored nearly 5,000 articles, including features and lists. He studied creative writing and English with a concentration in screenwriting at Southern New Hampshire University and interned as a writer/journalist for The Borgen Project, an influential organization that fights global poverty. However, one of his proudest achievements is editing a Leonardo DiCaprio freakout compilation that has over 150K views on YouTube. Adam also fancies himself an amateur film critic on his personal website. Ethan Hawke is reuniting with Scott Derrickson for a new horror movie, and it looks like they are dialing up the scares once again. The two first teamed up for Sinister (2012), a horror film in which Hawke plays a true-crime author who stumbles upon something horrifying while investigating his latest book. The pair reunited almost a decade later for The Black Phone (2021), with Hawke playing a serial child abductor known as the Grabber, and Derrickson returned to direct the sequel, Black Phone 2 (2025). Now, during an interview with Polygon promoting his new movie The Weight, Ethan Hawke was asked if he would be interested in returning to the horror genre, and he revealed that he is reuniting with Scott Derrickson for a new movie. Read his full comments below: I don't have agendas like that about what kind of movie, really. I like people. Yeah, Scott and I are working on something right now. I think he's so gifted. I like working with him. Hawke kept the details of that "something" under wraps, leaving it unclear whether they could be revisiting one of their past collaborations for a sequel or reuniting for a completely new horror story. The most likely explanation would be Black Phone 3, as the past sequel resurrected Hawke's Grabber while expanding the franchise's supernatural mythology. The Ultimate · Horror Quote Challenge Name That Horror Movie “They’re coming to get you, Barbara.” ☠1960s 🔪1970s 👻1980s 💀1990s 🎭2000s ENTER IF YOU DARE → 01 Which horror movie features this iconic line?“I am your number one fan.” ASingle White Female (1992) BCape Fear (1991) CMisery (1990) DFatal Attraction (1987) ✓ Correct! Annie Wilkes’s obsessive declaration to author Paul Sheldon in Misery — Kathy Bates won the Oscar for this role. ✗ Not quite — it’s Misery (1990). Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes delivers this line before things get very, very painful for her favorite author. NEXT → 02 Which horror movie features this iconic line?“We all go a little mad sometimes.” APeeping Tom (1960) BThe Birds (1963) CWhatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) DPsycho (1960) ✓ Correct! Norman Bates’s unsettling confession in Hitchcock’s Psycho — the film that invented the slasher. ✗ Not quite — it’s Psycho (1960). Norman Bates delivers this chilling line to Marion Crane before the shower scene changes cinema forever. NEXT → 03 Which horror movie features this iconic line?“Here’s Johnny!” AThe Amityville Horror (1979) BPoltergeist (1982) CThe Changeling (1980) DThe Shining (1980) ✓ Correct! Jack Nicholson’s terrifying ad-lib as he axes through the bathroom door in The Shining. ✗ Not quite — it’s The Shining (1980). Nicholson improvised this line while hacking through the door — Kubrick kept the cameras rolling. NEXT → 04 Which horror movie features this iconic line?“They’re all gonna laugh at you!” ACarrie (1976) BThe Exorcist (1973) CThe Omen (1976) DSuspiria (1977) ✓ Correct! Margaret White’s cruel warning to her daughter before prom night turns deadly in Carrie. ✗ Not quite — it’s Carrie (1976). Piper Laurie as Margaret White torments her telekinetic daughter with this prophetic warning. NEXT → 05 Which horror movie features this iconic line?“One, two, Freddy’s coming for you.” AFriday the 13th (1980) BChild’s Play (1988) CHellraiser (1987) DA Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) ✓ Correct! The eerie children’s jump-rope rhyme that haunts the dreams of Elm Street. ✗ Not quite — it’s A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). The nursery rhyme warning of Freddy Krueger’s arrival. All five are iconic slashers, but only one invades your dreams. NEXT → 06 Which horror movie features this iconic line?“I want to play a game.” AHostel (2005) BSaw (2004) CThe Collector (2009) DCube (1997) ✓ Correct! Jigsaw’s signature greeting, delivered through his puppet Billy in Saw. ✗ Not quite — it’s Saw (2004). The Jigsaw Killer’s chilling invitation before his victims face impossible choices. NEXT → 07 Which horror movie features this iconic line?“It was the boogeyman.” ABlack Christmas (1974) BThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) CHalloween (1978) DWhen a Stranger Calls (1979) ✓ Correct! Laurie Strode’s terrified whisper to Dr. Loomis after surviving Michael Myers in Halloween. ✗ Not quite — it’s Halloween (1978). Laurie Strode whispers this to Dr. Loomis, who replies: “As a matter of fact, it was.” NEXT → 08 Which horror movie features this iconic line?“It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.” ASe7en (1995) BAmerican Psycho (2000) CRed Dragon (2002) DThe Silence of the Lambs (1991) ✓ Correct! Buffalo Bill’s skin-crawling command to his captive in The Silence of the Lambs. ✗ Not quite — it’s The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Buffalo Bill delivers this disturbing line from his basement. All five films feature serial killers, but only one has this scene. REVEAL MY SCORE → The Body Count Your Survival Score 💀 / 8 Did you survive the horror quiz? ↻ SURVIVE AGAIN The sequel was met with positive reviews from critics and was another box office success, grossing $132 million against its $30 million budget. There is still plenty of story left to explore, especially after the sequel revealed that the Grabber's reach extends far beyond his original reign of terror in 1978 Denver. Still, there is good reason not to assume that is the case. When Black Phone 2 premiered last year, Derrickson and his co-writer C. Robert Cargill remained deliberately vague about the possibility of a third film. During a previous interview with Polygon, Derrickson said they had not even discussed Black Phone 3, while Cargill explained that they would need to come up with a strong enough idea to make another return to these characters worthwhile: I can't think about filmmaking that way. I understand that's the business of the studios, trying to create film franchises. And I certainly respect film franchises as a horror fan. But as a filmmaker, I have to go one film at a time, and any film that I work on, I have to feel like this might be the last one I get to do. So it had to be complete. We haven't had one conversation about a Black Phone 3, and I don't know that we will. Would we love to work with [Black Phone stars Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, and Ethan Hawke] again? Absolutely. Would we love to get the band back together? Absolutely. Would I love to explore those characters some more? I thought about it. But it all comes down to: Is there a good enough idea to justify us putting a year of our life into making that? When you commit to a movie, that becomes part of your life for at least a year. So it's really got to be something really great and inspiring for us to want to make a third one. There is also Sinister, which marked Hawke and Derrickson's first horror collaboration. Hawke starred in the original but sat out the sequel, Sinister 2 (2015), which was directed by Ciarán Foy and panned by critics, earning a 14% Rotten Tomatoes score. Otherwise, Ethan Hawke and Scott Derrickson may be working on something completely new. For now, fans will have to wait and see what the duo has up their sleeves. Birthdate November 6, 1970 Birthplace Austin, Texas, U.S.A. Occupation(s) Actor, Author, Director Notable Projects Dead Poets Society, Training Day, Boyhood First On-Screen Role Explorers (1985) Current Spouse Ryan Shawhughes