CinemaCon continues on and one film getting some early hype is The Black Phone, the latest horror offering from Scott Derrickson that reteams him with Sinister producer Blumhouse.
Attendees were treated to an early look at the film’s trailer, which adds several new layers to the already interesting plot synopsis.
Mason Thames plays Finney Shaw, a shy but clever 13-year-old boy, who is abducted by a sadistic killer (played by Ethan Hawke) and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming is of little use. “When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer’s previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn’t happen to Finney.”
This time around, Sinister‘s Ethan Hawke plays the antagonist, a part-time magician who kidnaps and tortures children until he ultimately kills them.
“Hawke appears at first glance in white face paint and a top hat, struggling with falling grocery bags beside a totally unsuspicious beat up black van,” reveals Variety. “He lures the film’s young lead (Mason Thames), watching from afar, with tales of being a part-time magician. Before we know it, we’re in the aforementioned murder basement and that phone starts ringing…”
The site also caught the film’s trailer, breaking down what we can expect to see within the coming weeks (maybe it’ll be attached to Candyman?):
“The Black Phone sees the narrative firing on multiple cylinders. The movie promises pure dread as [Mason] Thames is tortured by Hawke, fond of donning terrifying masks and taunting him with stories of previous basement tenants and his own childhood.
“The supernatural is introduced via the phone calls, where the spirits of fallen children attempt to help Thames escape, leaving clues and life hacks in his physical space. A young neighborhood girl is also burdened with visions of Thames in capture, and attempts to help lead the police to him before it’s too late.”
There’s a lot to unpack here but the concept of a serial kidnapper/killer tormenting a young child with stories of his previous captors is an absolutely horrific concept. There’s a lot of hyperbole slinging around, but it’s hard to deny how interesting The Black Phone sounds.
The really good news is that The Black Phone will ring into theaters on January 28, 2022.
Derrickson and frequent collaborator Robert Cargill (Bermuda, Doctor Strange, Sinister) adapted the script based on Joe Hill’s short story.