Ethan Hawke is set to reunite with Sinister director Scott Derrickson for the new horror movie The Black Phone. The film is an adaptation of the Joe Hill story of the same title.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hawke will take on a villainous role as a man who kidnaps and imprisons a kid in a soundproof basement. Mason Thames (For All Mankind) plays the boy, while Jeremy Davis (Saving Private Ryan) plays his dad. The phone of the title is an old disconnected telephone in the room that rings with the voices of the dead at night.
The Black Phone is produced by Blumhouse Films, who also produced Sinister, as well as movies such as Get Out, The Purge, and the 2018 Halloween reboot. The film is written by Derrickson and his regular co-writer C. Robert Cargill. The pair also collaborated on Derrickson's Marvel hit Doctor Strange. Hawke has previously appeared in several Blumhouse movies, including The Purge and the western In a Valley of Violence.
The Black Phone starts production next month, but doesn't yet have a release date. Joe Hill's original story appeared in his 2005 short story collection 20th Century Ghosts.
Hawke was also recently cast in the upcoming Marvel Disney+ series Moon Knight. He's set to play another bad guy role, although specific details of his characters are yet to be announced. The show will star Oscar Isaac in the title role, a vigilante who suffers from multiple personalities.
As for Blumhouse, two of its biggest franchises have new movies due this year. The Forever Purge is set for release in July, while Halloween Kills arrives in October.