ETHAN HAWKE CALLING
The Black Phone, The Scariest Film Ever?
Ethan Hawke made his screen debut in the 1985 science fiction film Explorers when he starred opposite the late River Phoenix. However, his real breakthrough came when cast in the Robin Williams-starring Dead Poets Society. Viewers will remember him as Todd Anderson, the student who gets up and starts the “O Captain! My Captain!” chant at the end of the film. Hawke is probably best known for starring in Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy alongside Julie Delpy. The trilogy, Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013), follows the relationship between Hawke’s Jesse and Delpy’s Céline from their first encounter on a train through their ups and downs. Hawke was co-nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for Before Sunset and Before Midnight. He was also nominated twice for the Academy’s Best Supporting Actor for Training Day and Boyhood.
In addition to acting, Hawke is also an accomplished director. He has directed three features: Chelsea Walls, The Hottest State, and Blaze, as well as the documentary Seymour: An Introduction. He is currently in pre-production on another documentary he will be directing. The project is an as-yet-untitled film about Hollywood legends Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Hawke has multiple acting roles ahead, so let’s look at one of them: The Black Phone.
In the upcoming supernatural horror film The Black Phone, 13-year-old Finney Shaw (Mason Thames) is abducted by a serial killer who targets children. He finds himself locked in a soundproof basement, where he stumbles upon a disconnected phone. When he picks up the phone, he can communicate with the killer’s earlier victims, who try to help Finney escape. Meanwhile, Finney’s sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) has recurring visions to help her find her brother. Ethan Hawke stars as a character only credited as The Grabber, so it’s probably not far off to assume that he is the serial killer. Scott Derrickson directed The Black Phone from a script he co-wrote with C. Robert Cargill and based on a short story by Joe Hill. The Black Phone is from Blumhouse Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures. The scheduled theatrical release is February 4, 2022.
