“Doctor Strange” filmmaker Scott Derrickson will direct the horror movie “Black Phone” for Blumhouse and Universal Pictures.
Derrickson will also co-write the adapted screenplay with Robert Cargill. The duo teamed on the script for “Doctor Strange” and “Sinister.”
“Black Phone” is based on Joe Hill’s horror novella of the same name. The book revolves around a dead cinephile, a lonely kid, an eight-foot-tall locust and a man locked in a basement stained with the blood of murdered children. There’s also an old, disconnected telephone that rings at night with calls from the dead.
Mason Thames (“For All Mankind”) and Madeleine McGraw (“Toy Story 4”) will star in the film. Derrickson, Cargill and Blumhouse topper Jason Blum are producing the pic. Hill will serve as an executive producer.
Derrickson’s directing credits include “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” (2005), “Sinister” (2012), “Deliver Us From Evil” (2014) and the 2016 Marvel Cinematic Universe film “Doctor Strange,” which grossed $677 million worldwide. He was attached to direct the sequel, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” but exited earlier this year due to creative differences.
Derrickson is repped by WME, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Ziffren Brittenham. Cargill is represented by WME and Brillstein Entertainment Partners. Thames is represented by AKA Talent Agency, MC Talent Management and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher. McGraw is represented by Coast to Coast Talent Group, The Burstein Company and Schreck Rose Dapello Adams Berlin & Dunham. Hill is represented by Hotchkiss Daily & Associates and The Choate Agency. The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.