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Here's what the Black Phone 3 movie plot should be, according to creator Joe Hill

Black Phone creator Joe Hill on where the Blumhouse film franchise should go for its third movie

News by Grant DeArmitt, Staff Writer

Published on Thu Nov 13 2025

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Despite mixed reactions from critics, Blumhouse horror sequel Black Phone 2 raked in an impressive haul when it opened October 17, scaring up a worldwide $42M according to Deadline. Ethan Hawke's return as The Grabber opened with a larger box office report, which means that the chiller franchise is likely here to stay. And if that's the case (let's face it - we all know it is) story creator Joe Hill has thoughts on what a third film might look like.

Ahead of the movie's premiere, Hill sat down with Variety to chat about what seems to be a new horror icon in the making, and let's just point out right now - no one is less surprised about the Grabber's hold on horror culture than he is.

"The mask was crafted by Tom Savini and Jason Baker," Hil noted, "I saw that mask and thought, 'Oh, I think there’s gonna be a whole bunch of these movies.' It struck me as instantly iconic in the way Freddy Krueger’s glove is iconic, in the way Michael Myers’ mask is iconic. I thought, ‘This is nightmare fuel, and people are going to want a lot of it.'"

Fast forward a couple of years and Hill - who wrote the short story that inspired the first film, published in his collection 20th Century Ghost - was absolutely right. Fans are flocking to movie theaters to see plucky series lead Finney (Mason Thames) go toe-to-toe with Hawke's menacing Grabber. So naturally, creator Hill is already letting ideas percolate for CHapter 3.

"One of the things which is fun about 'Black Phone,'" hill told Variety, "Is the first story is about Finney in danger and his sister trying to save him,” Hill says. ‘He’s the lead, and she’s the key second character. But in this film, there’s a flip where Gwen is the lead character and her brother is trying to save her. To me, the logical thing is if there is a third film, they are dual stars where they’re sitting trying to save each other. Maybe there’s a way to do that, maybe there isn’t … we’ll have to see."

The Black Phone is streaming on Peacock.

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Grant DeArmitt: Grant DeArmitt (he/him) likes horror, comics, and the unholy union of the two. In the past, and despite their better judgment, he has written for Nightmare on Film Street and Newsarama. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Kingsley, and corgi, Legs.