5 Reasons Why Black Phone 2 Killed It At The Box Office

It was another big weekend for horror at the box office. While that's been a consistent theme in 2025, with Warner Bros. movies like "Sinners" and "Weapons" delivering the goods, this time it was Blumhouse getting back on top thanks to the long-awaited "Black Phone 2." The sequel hit theaters just in time for the Halloween season, and audiences have indicated it was worth the wait.

Director Scott Derrickson's "Black Phone 2" topped the charts domestically with $26.5 million, which was near the top end of pre-release box office expectations. The sequel also pulled in $15.5 million internationally for a $42 million global start. That's extremely good news, as the film puts an end to the cold streak that Blumhouse had been experiencing at the box office. It's also good news for Universal, giving the studio another hit to go along with the likes of "How to Train Your Dragon" and "Jurassic World Rebirth" this year.

So, what went right here? How did Blumhouse manage to meet high expectations for this follow-up? Why was this the latest example of horror reliably delivering a much-needed success for the industry? We're going to look at the biggest reasons why "Black Phone 2" did so well at the box office on its opening weekend. Let's get into it.

One of the problems that can (and often does) emerge when making a sequel is that audience expectations are rather high. That was the case here, as "The Black Phone" is arguably one of the more widely beloved mainstream horror movies of the last several years. Fortunately, Derrickson and writer C. Robert Cargill managed to deliver the goods with their follow-up.

"Black Phone 2" currently boasts a solid 74% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, more importantly, it holds an even better 85% audience score. Audiences are the ones who drive ticket sales, after all. The film also earned a decent B CinemaScore, though that's down from the original film's B+. Without getting into which movie was better, the larger point is that the sequel is broadly considered good and didn't disappoint. By contrast, Blumhouse's "M3GAN 2.0" in part flopped over the summer because it very much did not meet audience expectations.

In his review of "Black Phone 2" for /Film out of Fantastic Fest, Rafael Motamayor called it a "fantastic sequel" adding that it's "so different that it stands out on its own, while also serving as an improvement on its predecessor in almost every way." It appears, in the early going at least, that the majority of audience members agreed with that sentiment.

Credit where credit is due, Universal Pictures marketed the hell out of "Black Phone 2." After The Grabber died during the first movie, it was always going to be tough to justify a follow-up. However, by essentially turning Ethan Hawke's masked killer into a modern take on Freddy Krueger, the sequel was able to justify its existence. Its premise was also adequately communicated in the marketing, with the film's posters boasting the tagline, "Dead is just a word."

On top of that, the posters avoided being messes of random photoshopped faces. Instead, they conveyed intriguing imagery and promised a bloody adventure in the snow, all while leaning heavily on The Grabber's very distinctive mask. Similarly, the "Black Phone 2" trailers had shades of Derrickson's beloved horror movie "Sinister," in addition to elements of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and even summer camp slashers like "Friday the 13th," albeit with a wintertime twist. There was a lot for horror lovers to chew on, and Universal was pretty effective in communicating why this sequel was worth seeing on the big screen.

Furthermore, it's important to point out that the "Black Phone 2" trailers didn't give too much away. Rather, they preserved quite a bit of the story for audiences, as opposed to leaving them feeling like they already knew every beat of the film beforehand. That's an increasingly difficult tightrope to walk in this day and age, but Universal pulled it off here.

Every year, at least one of the major studios stakes its claim with a big horror movie that will entice horror-seekers during the Halloween season. Last year, it was Paramount with "Smile 2," while Damien Leone's "Terrifier 3" was also doing shockingly sizable business. This year, though, Universal successfully carved out that coveted spot on the calendar, with "Black Phone 2" serving as the default choice for spooky season 2025.

Not to take anything away from what this movie accomplished out of the gate, but competition in the genre space wasn't exactly fierce. IFC's dog POV horror movie "Good Boy" is out there, but that's a niche play at best. Elsewhere, "The Conjuring: Last Rites" is wrapping up its impressive run and is already available on VOD. Even outside of horror, "Tron: Ares" was a massive bust for Disney. The coast was totally clear for The Grabber to do his thing.

The release timing paid off. "The Black Phone" opened to just shy of $24 million in summer 2022, competing with "Elvis," "Top Gun: Maverick," and "Jurassic World Dominion." Thanks to far less competition and the benefit of the season, "Black Phone 2" was able to out-perform its predecessor. Unless "Shelby Oaks" becomes a breakout hit, the coast is clear for this movie to hold very well in the coming weeks. Indeed, the next big studio horror release won't arrive until "Predator Badlands" reaches theaters on November 7.

When it comes to horror, iconography can be a huge selling point. Jason Voorhees in his hockey mask holding his machete. Freddy Krueger with his clawed fingers and his striped sweater. Michael Myers in his ghost white mask and blue jumpsuit. You get the idea. Though he only has two movies under his belt, it's evident that The Grabber has already become something of a modern horror icon, which very much helped make "Black Phone 2" a hit.

You can see that in the power of the "Oh s***, he's back" selling point of the sequel, with The Grabber gaining some level of eternal life and now able to attack people in their dreams. The Grabber also sets himself apart from many other slashers in several ways, not the least of which is having an Oscar-caliber actor playing him, with Ethan Hawke back under the mask once again. The marketing leaned heavily on the character, and that worked for audiences. Amongst genre fans, there appears to be genuine excitement around a new slasher icon being born (rather than another rehash of the past).

"Halloween" is currently on ice. "Nightmare on Elm Street" has been dead for 15 years. "Friday the 13th" is slowly coming back to life, but it's been dead for nearly two decades. The Grabber is very much here to help fill that void, and that is perhaps an understated element of this emerging franchise's popularity.

Every time a big horror movie has hit it out of the park in 2025, it's a reminder that this genre is the most reliable in all of cinema. It's a lesson that bears repeating. Sure, we've had misfires this year, including the aforementioned "M3GAN 2.0." Blumhouse, in particular, has had a rough year overall, with "Wolf Man" ($35 million worldwide/$25 million budget), "The Woman in the Yard" ($23 million worldwide/$12 million budget), and "Drop" ($28 million worldwide/$11 million budget) all disappointing greatly. It doesn't always work out, but more often than not, when the studio does right by audiences, it thrives.

Case in point, some of the biggest winners of 2025 have been horror films, with "The Conjuring: Last Rites" ($482 million worldwide), "Final Destination Bloodlines" ($315 million worldwide), "Sinners" ($366 million worldwide), "Weapons" ($267 million worldwide), and "28 Years Later" ($151 million worldwide) all ranking as big hits. "Black Phone 2" is on track to join that list.

Even some of those misfires, relative to their tiny budgets, will make money back in the long run. In this case, we're looking at a $30 million budget, which is big by Blumhouse standards but still modest in the grand scheme of things. Horror remains an incredibly good investment, especially when the movie at hand is broadly considered good. Studios can't just throw slop out there and expect it to take off, but when it works, the rewards can be truly huge.

"Black Phone 2" is now playing in theaters.