©Photo by Nobuhiro Hosoki
Thousands of horror fans gathered on the Empire Stage last Friday at 5pm for the BlumFest, one of the most celebrated panels at the New York Comic-Con 2025.
On the anniversary of the 15th year of BlumHouse foundation, celebrated with the publication of the book Horror’s New Wave, Jason Blum himself took the stage to announce the upcoming projects of his production company. First he admitted that some sets of his production have been quite chilling, like for example Ouija 2, Sinister and the first Paranormal Activity. After that Blum announced some movie and television productions arriving next year: on the big screen we’ll see The Mummy, which will be directed by Lee Cronin, with Jack Reynor as protagonist. In the summer we’ll see Insidious 6, announced by a video featuring Lyn Shaye and director Jacob Chase. For the small screen BlumHouse Television has instead realized a series titled The Other Mommy, starring Jessica Chastain, and Scarpetta with Nicole Kidman, based on the iconic character created by Patricia Cromwell in her book series. Produced for Amazon Prime Video, the series also has Jamie Lee Curtis, Ariana DeBose, Bobby Cannavale and Simon Baker in the cast.
After these announcements, Black Phone 2 took the stage. The novelist Joe Hill, the actors Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Demián Bichir and Miguel Mora – who will play a completely different character in this sequel – arrived at the Empire Stage, presenting the movie arriving in theaters on October 17.
Jason Blum explains why he wanted to do a sequel: “What really inspired me to make a sequel is Scott Derrickson: I got a very happy phone call two or three months after the first movie came out and he said: “You know, I’ve been thinking about this: there’s a much bigger story to tell and a much bigger universe in Black Phone. That’s the first thing that he said. And the second thing he said, and I think you guys will all agree, is that The Grabber is building in excitement and specialness and horribleness and evilness in a way that he can’t be through in one movie.”
“I wrote the story over 20 years ago, and I got paid like 35 bucks for it, so I was pretty psyched about the film, because Jason Blum actually pays a little bit better – joked Hill – I knew it was in good hands because Scott Derrickson and Robert Cargill were tackling it, and everything they’ve done has come from the heart. They care intensely about the characters and put the characters first in their stories. I felt safe with them.” Ethan Hawke speaks about returning in the sequel: “Scott said, ‘I really have an idea for a sequel,’ and I paced the airport for about an hour as he kind of described what this movie is. It was breathtaking. Just the dream of the movie, everything that it was,” he said. “In the years that the movie has come out, the fans have really grown and really cared. Knowing the script I’ve read, we were going to make a lot of people really happy.”
“We shot the first movie when I had just turned 13 – Thames added – That was over about five years ago now, and it’s crazy. It was my first movie, so I didn’t know what I was really expecting or how people were going to take it. All I knew is I trusted the people making the film of my life. When the movie came out and how the fans received it, and how special it was to so many people, was insane. It was such a whirlwind. So getting the chance to bring it back, and bring these characters back in this world, expanding on that in a way that I never could have imagined, it’s really special. I think all the fans who fell in love the first movie will really enjoy what we did here.”
The most interesting character in Black Phone 2 seems to be Gwen: “She is honestly completely different from where we left off in the first movie – confirmed McGraw – Obviously, years have gone by, and you get to see the trauma and how it has shaped them, and how they’ve tried to grow from it,” she said. “She definitely feels like an outcast now. She’s much more reserved than she was in the first one, and I am definitely the opposite of that. I’m a very social and extroverted person, so I feel like, in a lot of ways, especially with all the emotional scenes, it definitely tested my abilities as an actor.”
©Photo by Nobuhiro Hosoki
Miguel Mora confirmed that he’s back in Black Phone 2 but with a surprise: “Coming back to a sequel’s already a pretty big opportunity, but coming back to portray a totally new character is something really special. Ernesto is such a unique character. Definitely a big contrast from Robin. Robin had this aggression to him. Ernesto’s this preppy honor student that wants to do the right thing. Black Phone 2 revolves so deeply around the trauma that these characters go through and that they experience with the terrifying Grabber. Grief is one of those very heavy things with these characters, and Ernesto lost his brother in the first one, and stepping into this new perspective was definitely quite the challenge, but it’s something I really enjoyed.”
After that, Demián Bichir talker about entering the world of The Grabber: “First of all, I’m not a big fan of horror films. I can’t pay to be scared. Just not me. I heard of this beautiful film and I refused to see it. I said: “No way I’m going to lose my sleep over this film.” And then when Scott called me, I went ahead and saw Black Phone and I was so impressed by the beauty of it, how beautifully crafted it was. This goes beyond the horror genre. This is high cinema, cinema at its best. I remember watching the film thinking: “I want to be a part of something like that.” When I read the script, I saw what the new story was about, such a beautiful plot, I couldn’t wait to see them on set and see them grow. Then of course being a part of a film with Ethan Hawke, that was a dream. I’m really really grateful for all that.”
After Black Phone 2 Robin Finck, iconic guitarist of the band Nine Inch Nails, arrived to present the videogame he created and co-directed for BlumHouse Games: Sleep Awake is a horror videogames set in a world where people who fall asleep tragically disappear. The atmosphere and the environment shown at the Comic-Con guarantee the perfect amount of anxiety for the game lovers.
The last dish served to the enthusiastic fans of the Empire Stage was Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, which will arrive in theaters on December 5. Directed once again by Emma Tammi, who achieved a huge boxoffice success with the first episode in 2023, the movie shows the old-iconic monsters plus a couple of new entries. One of them, Toy Chica, will be dubbed by Megan Fox. “Her kids happen to be huge ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ fans, so she has heard about this world for a long time from her kids,” Emma Tammi “She was really pumped to do the voice of Toy Chica, and she did the most amazing job. She wanted to pay homage to the games, but also make it her own.” Among other celebrities giving voice to the scary robots haunting humans, there are also Kellen Goff and Matthew ‘MatPat’ Patrick. The director, the actors Elizabeth Lail and later on Matthew Lillard joined the stage, raising if possible even more the hype of the Empire Stage. Signed books have been gifted to lucky participants, while at the end of the panel everyone got an exclusive t-shirt of Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. The BlumFest 2025 confirmed the incredible love and attachment that thousands and thousands in New York – and millions all over the world – have for the company founded by Jason Blum and its thrilling movies.
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Here’s the trailer for Black Phone 2 and Five Nights at Freddy’s 2: