Stephen King Compares The Black Phone to One of His Movies

The upcoming The Black Phone isn’t based on a story written by Stephen King, it’s actually based on a story written by his son Joe Hill, but the acclaimed author and sometimes film critic has seen the movie and he has thoughts. Speaking in an interview with SlashFilm, director Scott Derrickson (whose work has previously been praised by King!) revealed King’s reaction, telling the outlet: “I know that [author Joe Hill] showed it to his dad, and Stephen King’s comment… He saw it and apparently loved it. And his comment to Joe was, ‘It’s ‘Stand By Me’ in hell,’ which I thought was great.” 

For those unaware, The Black Phone follows Finney Shaw, a shy young boy kidnapped by sadistic serial killer (played by Ethan Hawke!) and kept in a soundproof basement. When a phone on the wall begins to ring however it brings with it the voices of the killer’s previous victims. Speaking with ComicBook.com however Derrickson revealed that he didn’t intentionally come to the material of The Black Phone with the rose-colored glasses that Stand By Me has for its youthful characters and their whimsical past.

“I was purposely trying not to reinterpret it through through Spielberg’s representation of suburban life. I think Stranger Things does a beautiful job of that. And I think that’s really great. And I really love Stranger Things. I think a lot of movies it included are sort of drawing on that Spielberg influence. I wanted to do something very different, which was I didn’t want to look back on these years of my life, personally, with nostalgia. I didn’t want to look back at them through the filter of other cinema. I really tried to go back and look at the violence and the sort of danger and of what it was like for me growing up in North Denver in 1978 in a relatively violent  neighborhood where people fought and bled all the time.”

Derrickson, whose career has previously included stints in franchises, went on to tease that there’s already an idea for a sequel to The Black Phone should audiences be eager for more.

“Joe Hill pitched me a wonderful idea for a sequel to Black Phone that if this movie does well. I’m gonna do it,” Derrickson confirmed to us. “He’s got a great idea. I really liked it when he (told me), and Joe is very, very protective and personal about his material. But he came to me with the idea and I was like, that’s how you do a sequel to Black Phone. That’s terrific.”

The Black Phone hits theaters on June 24th.