'Black Phone 2', Universal Pictures and Blumhouse's sequel to the 2022 horror hit, led the North American box office this weekend with a debut above $25 million, according to studio estimates reported by Comscore.

The original 'Black Phone', directed by Scott Derrickson and starring Ethan Hawke, opened to roughly $23 million in June 2022 and grossed more than $160 million worldwide. Blumhouse founder Jason Blum has built the studio's model on low-budget horror timed to seasonal demand, and the mid-October slot positions the sequel directly ahead of Halloween moviegoing.

Derrickson returned to direct, with Hawke and Mason Thames reprising their roles. Universal distributed the film following an aggressive marketing campaign that leaned on the franchise's recognisable masked villain, a strategy the studio has employed across its Blumhouse partnership.

The opening reinforces horror's outsized role in a cinema market still recovering unevenly from pandemic-era disruption. Modestly budgeted horror titles deliver the strongest return on investment, and the strong debut strengthens the case for further sequels.

Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, noted that "horror continues to be the most dependable draw at the box office, especially in October."