Sinister is one of the most roundly (and rightly) beloved mainstream horror movies of the last fifteen years. Directed by Scott Derrickson, it helped cement Blumhouse as a powerhouse in modern genre filmmaking and allowed Ethan Hawke to explore the world of horror, which is something he really hadn’t done up to that point in his career. A sequel followed in 2015, but we haven’t heard a peep from the franchise since. So, would Derrickson return to that universe, provided the opportunity to do so? Maybe!
Derrickson recently spoke with the folks at Inverse in anticipation of the release of V/H/S/85, which premieres on Shudder tomorrow. The latest installment in the horror anthology series features a segment directed by Derrickson. During his chat with the outlet, he was asked whether or not he would be interested in returning to the Sinister franchise. Though noncommittal, he expressed a feeling that there is more to explore in that universe. Here’s what he had to say about it:
“Possibly. 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.”
So we can’t exactly go shouting, “Sinister 3 is happening!” from the rooftops just yet, but it’s at least not totally out of the realm of possibility. The biggest hurdle to clear, as Derrickson suggests, is the fact that Sinister 2 was not exactly a well-rounded success story. Directed by Ciaran Foy, the sequel was met with largely negative reviews and made a great deal less than the original at the box office. For context, Sinister made $87 million against a mere $3 million budget, while Sinster 2 made $54 million against a $10 million budget.
The other thing to consider is that Derrickson is rather busy these days. Last year, he returned to horror with his smash hit The Black Phone, which Hawke also starred in. He’s also currently working on his next movie, The Gorge, which stars Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy, with several other projects in development, including a possible Labyrinth sequel. If Blumhouse got serious about another Sinister film, it’s possible that Derrickson and writer C. Robert Cargill could board as producers while handing the reigns to another filmmaker. At the very least, Derrickson won’t entirely rule it out. The ball is in your court, Jason Blum.
You can watch Derrickson’s segment in V/H/S/85, which is streaming on Shudder on October 6.
