Sinister Director Addresses Possibility of Returning to Franchise

Director Scott Derrickson scored breakout hits with his two horror films The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) and Sinister (2012). The latter film spawned a franchise centered around the demon Bughuul and his dark mission to claim innocent children’s souls by turning them into ritual killers.  

However, even though the original Sinister was a modest (but marginal) success at the box office ($87.7 million on a $3 million budget), Derrickson didn’t feel compelled to come back and direct the sequel film, Sinister 2, and it showed in both the lower quality of film we got, and the lower box office returns ($54.1 million on a $10 million budget). Derrickson went on to do projects like Marvel’s Doctor Strange (2016), before stepping away from directing major projects until his 2021 indie-horror it The Black Phone ($161.4 million on a $16-18 million budget). 

So, after the winding road through the film industry that he’s been on, would Scott Derrickson ever consider returning to Sinister for a new installment? 

“Possibly,” Derrickson revealed to Inverse, explaining that “It’s a really interesting world. It’s really unfortunate that Sinister 2 was a misfire, but I do think there’s a lot of things that are special about it, and I certainly think it merits more exploration if we can do it in a better way.”

What Would Sinister 3 Be About? 

As stated above, Sinister was able to become an ongoing franchise because of the lore that Derrickson and writer C. Robert Cargill created in the original film. By the time writer Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) pieces together the legend of Bughuul, there’s already an entire ancient history of the demon and his modern murderous rampage across America established in the lore. Even though Sinister 2 seemed to break the cycle of Bughuul’s killings, it also had one last jump scare to suggest the hauntings would go on. There’s also a franchise character in James Ransone’s “Ex-Deputy So & So,” who tried to stop the Oswalt family murderers –  and actually succeeded in saving single mom Courtney Wheeler-Collins (Shannyn Sossamon) and at least one of her twin sons from Bughuul. 

Now that Ex-Deputy So & So broke the cycle of Bughuul’s path of travel and murder, there’s a chance for Sinister to be re-introduced with a “new rules” soft reboot concept. The original film hinged on a massive twist about Bughuul’s intentions; the next has every bit of chance to do the same. Having Derrickson back at the helm would certainly give fans some much-needed reassurance. 

The Sinister movies are available on streaming and home video.