Horror Strikes Again as Black Phone 2 Rings Up Box Office Glory
For the eleventh weekend this year, horror is king at the box office. Black Phone 2, the sinister sequel to Scott Derrickson’s supernatural smash, has officially answered the call, and audiences are picking up in droves.
The sequel scared up an impressive twenty six and a half million dollars in its domestic debut and a chilling forty two million worldwide, effortlessly surpassing its thirty million production budget. That total also secured the number one spot in both domestic and international charts, cementing Ethan Hawke’s Grabber as the ghostly face of box office success.
It is a remarkable feat for a sequel that, on paper, sounded like a risky move. After all, the first Black Phone wrapped up neatly, but as our Horror Brains review noted, the follow up finds inventive new ways to dial into supernatural terror. We gave it four out of five knives, praising Derrickson’s bold mix of spiritual horror, nostalgia and nightmarish imagery. Clearly, audiences agreed.
The success of Black Phone 2 continues horror’s absolute domination of 2025’s box office. So far, six horror titles have taken the top spot this year, including Sinners, Final Destination Bloodlines, Weapons, The Conjuring Last Rites, Japan’s Demon Slayer Infinity Castle, and now Derrickson’s spectral sequel. That is six times the genre’s winning streak from last year, when only three horror films managed to top the charts all year.
It is also a strong reminder that audiences crave more than just superheroes and franchise reboots. With horror consistently outperforming bloated blockbusters, studios are beginning to rediscover something they seemed to have forgotten, originality sells, especially when it comes with blood, tension and a terrified Ethan Hawke whispering menacingly in the dark.
Black Phone 2’s triumph left a few casualties in its wake, most notably Tron Ares, Disney’s long in the making sequel starring Jared Leto. After a weak start, it fell sixty six percent in its second weekend, pulling in only eleven million dollars domestically and twenty five million worldwide. For a film with a reported budget nearing one hundred and eighty million, that is less a legacy sequel and more a financial horror story.
Meanwhile, Aziz Ansari’s Good Fortune stumbled into third place with just six million dollars domestically and seven and a half million worldwide, despite a cast featuring Seth Rogen, Sandra Oh, Keke Palmer and Keanu Reeves. Critics may be kind, but audiences are clearly looking for more ghosts and fewer workplace angels.
Elsewhere, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another continued its slow march with four million domestic and fifteen point eight million global, not exactly enough to cover its one hundred and thirty million price tag, but enough to please the art house faithful. Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst’s Roofman rounded out the top five, taking three point seven million domestic and inching toward profit thanks to a modest budget.
As for what lies ahead, Black Phone 2 faces a test next weekend as The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White dons the denim jacket of Bruce Springsteen in Deliver Me From Nowhere. Still, even with The Boss in play, horror might hold the crown a little longer.
Also arriving is another fright flick that could ride the wave of genre goodwill. Former film critic turned director Chris Stuckmann makes his feature debut with Shelby Oaks, a low budget chiller expanding on his viral found footage series. With a budget under three million dollars and strong buzz online, it might just be the next horror underdog to join this year’s bloody box office leaderboard.
With original horror thriving, Black Phone 2’s success feels like proof of life and death for creative filmmaking. As long as audiences keep showing up to scream, the phone will keep ringing.
