We’re used to seeing Ethan Hawke in horror films, such as The Purge and Sinister, but while the actor usually plays a protective, paternal protagonist in those films, he’s taken on a decidedly more antagonistic and creepy look in the newly-released poster for Scott Derrickson’s The Black Phone, as reported in Collider.
The sepia tone image has Hawke sporting a face-shaped mask akin to the terrifying aesthetic of American Horror Story’s Twisty or Mad Max Fury Road‘s Immortan Joe.
The film is set to have its worldwide premiere at Fantastic Fest today, with Derrickson sharing the poster via Twitter ahead of the red carpet event. Check out the image below:
Derrickson, who previous collaborated with Hawke for the film Sinister, is getting back to his horror roots with the upcoming film after showing his chops for blockbuster superhero franchises by directing and co-writing 2016’s Doctor Strange.
Hawke plays a murderer and kidnapper in The Black Phone, seeking to claim his next victim, a young child named Finney Shaw, played by Mason Thames. Shaw discovers while trapped in a basement that a disconnected phone is able to transmit the voices of the murderer’s previous victims. The tale is based on a 2004 short story by Joe Hill.
The film co-stars Jeremy Davies, James Ransone, Madeleine McGraw, Jacobe Moran, Jordan Isaiah White and Brady Hepner.
The movie is being produced by Blumhouse, whose CEO Jason Blum described it as “definitely one of the creepiest movies” the company has ever done, in an interview with Collider back in June.
The Black Phone has its world premiere at Fantastic Fest this evening, then will head to Beyond Fest in October, and finally releasing in theaters on January 28, 2022.
