‘Scariest movie ever’ could be getting sequel as director confirms talks about reboot

'We're hoping to revive that franchise. I would love to see that happen.'

The movie's director, Scott Derrickson, has confirmed to JOE that talks about a revival of the hit franchise are underway.

A favourite of ours here at JOE, the original starred Oscar-nominee Ethan Hawke (Training Day) as a one-hit-wonder true crime writer desperate for another success.

As part of a harebrained scheme to achieve this, the writer moves himself, his wife and their kids into a house where the grisly unsolved murder of a family just like his happened.

Keeping his family in the dark about the house’s dark past, Ellison stumbles upon a box in his new home’s attic filled with snuff films which depict different families being killed in various, hugely disturbing ways.

Appalled by the footage but also consumed with the idea of writing another hit book, Ellison does not share his findings with the police or his family, thinking he can crack the mysteries of the killings.

As he rewatches the snuff films over and over again in search of clues, the research begins to take a mental toll on the writer. All the while, he and his family are plagued by a series of strange occurrences.

Well-liked by critics and a box office smash hit, Sinister earned a sequel three years later, which was co-written by Derrickson and helmed by director Ciarán Foy.

Though the follow-up turned a big profit in cinemas, it was poorly reviewed. Since then, the franchise has lain dormant.

That said, the original Sinister's reputation has only improved in the years since its release. In fact, a yearly scientific study has repeatedly named the 2012 flick the "scariest movie of all time", based on an analysis of viewer heart rates.

JOE had the pleasure of speaking to Derrickson about the trailer for his new horror Black Phone 2, which re-teams the director with Ethan Hawke.

You can read about his comments on The Black Phone sequel here.

During the conversation, we also asked the filmmaker if famed horror producer Jason Blum had approached him about some sort of Sinister reboot.

Derrickson confirmed this was the case, telling JOE:

"Yeah, we've actually been speaking about it.

"I think that we really dropped the ball on Sinister 2. I take responsibility for that. I think that there were some problems with that screenplay that we wrote. It didn't have the mystery or the intensity of the first movie.

"But we're hoping to make a Sinister 3 eventually and revive that franchise. I would love to see that happen."

We also asked Derrickson about making the scariest movie of all time, according to science.

In particular, we were wondering if he feels pressure to top what he's accomplished before in terms of frights.

Responding, he said: "No, there's not a pressure there because they're different kinds of movies. I mean, I would actually call [the 2021 original] Black Phone a supernatural thriller before I'd call it a horror film.

"The goal of that movie was more character-driven and suspense-driven than shocking horror and terror-driven.

"I will say, though, that [Black Phone 2], because it's a high school movie, has more graphic violence, more blood and more intensity and more darkness than the first movie.

"That just seemed more befitting because the kids are a little older. A high school horror movie is a different genre altogether than a middle school horror film."

Black Phone 2 is out in cinemas on 17 October 2025.