While it won’t be out in time for this Halloween, just the first trailer for Universal Pictures upcoming horror film The Black Phone might be enough to give you chills — and leave you incredibly creeped out by Ethan Hawke. In the first trailer for the upcoming film, Hawke dons a top hat, seriously sinister-looking mask, and a pretty spot-on Heath Ledger’s Joker impression as he abducts and ultimately murders young boys. The supernatural thriller is the next project from Scott Derrickson (Sinister, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Deliver Us From Evil) and is a collaboration between the filmmaker and iconic horror film studio Blumhouse.
Based on a short story by Joe Hill from his New York Times bestseller 20th Century Ghosts, The Black Phone follows Finney Shaw (Mason Thames), “a shy but clever 13-year-old boy,” after he is adducted by Ethan Hawke’s “The Grabber.” Shaw is then trapped in a soundproof basement with a cot and a broken phone, seemingly doomed to meet the same fate as all of The Grabber’s victims — until the phone begins to ring. Using calls coming from beyond the grave (while the police investigate the case with the help of his prophetic, former classmate), Shaw must figure out how to escape the basement and get home free, even if that means taking on The Grabber head-on.
In addition to Hawke and Thames, The Black Phone features Jeremy Davies, James Ransome, Madeline McGraw, Kellan Rhude, J. Gaven Wilde, E. Rodger Mitchell, and Gina Jun. The film is produced by Derrickson & Cargill’s Crooked Highway, and will be presented by Universal and Blumhouse. The Black Phone hits theaters February 4, 2022.
