Black Phone 2 opens to solid previews, weekend projections 20-30M

Universal and Blumhouse’s Black Phone 2 opened to solid early returns this weekend, drawing about 2.6 million dollars in Thursday night previews at roughly 2,900 theaters and entering its first full weekend with box office projections clustered between the low 20 millions and about 30 million. The sequel, directed by Scott Derrickson and released in U.S. theaters on October 17, 2025, shifts perspective to the sister of Ethan Hawke’s villain, continuing a story set four years after the original film.

Industry tracking showed the film’s previews roughly in line with the 3 million it drew ahead of the 2021 original, which opened to 23.6 million and went on to gross about 161.4 million worldwide. Early estimates for the sequel’s three-day total ranged from the high teens on the conservative side up to 30 million on the optimistic side. Some analysts expect the picture to perform similarly to recent horror sequels that opened modestly and finished with mid-range totals, while others argue it has the potential to approach the original’s domestic run if it sustains weekend-to-weekend audience interest.

Black Phone 2 reunites Derrickson with co-writer C. Robert Cargill and Joe Hill. Set...