A sequel to 1408, the 2007 Stephen King adaptation, is officially in the works, Variety reports exclusively. Original stars Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack are currently negotiating terms to return and if so they will join Natalia Dyer who is set to lead the sequel and Elijah Wood in a supporting role. Mikael Håfström, who directed the original, returns to helm the sequel, working from a script he co-wrote with Mark Verheiden.
Based on King’s 1999 short story, the original 1408 followed Mike Enslin, played by Cusack, a cynical author who writes books debunking haunted locations. After receiving an anonymous warning never to stay in Room 1408 at New York’s Dolphin Hotel, Enslin pressures hotel manager Gerald Olin, played by Jackson, into giving him the key. Olin warns him that 56 people have died in the room over 95 years, and no guest has ever survived more than an hour inside it. Once in the room, Enslin experiences escalating supernatural phenomena, time loops, psychological illusions, and manifestations tied to the trauma of his daughter’s death, forcing him to fight for his sanity and his life as the hour mark approaches. The film carries multiple endings depending on the version: the theatrical cut has Enslin surviving by setting the room on fire, while darker director’s cut variations show him dying in the blaze or his ghost remaining trapped in the room indefinitely.
1408 became a cult hit on release, grossing $133 million worldwide against a $25 million budget. Cusack has long maintained it’s the only film he’d ever agree to a sequel for, telling People in 2025 that most modern movies simply “suck,” and floating the idea of a follow-up as far back as a 2020 Collider interview, where he imagined Enslin waking up back inside the room.
Production is slated to begin in the first quarter of 2027. Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Bluestone Entertainment’s Richard Saperstein, Spyglass Media Group, and Frank Mayor produce, with Bluestone and FilmNation Entertainment co-financing and FilmNation handling international distribution. The project heads to AFM next week to be introduced to buyers.
Jackson’s potential return comes during an unusually active stretch: he’s confirmed to reprise Nick Fury in Avengers: Secret Wars, skipping Avengers: Doomsday entirely, while also leading the Paramount+ series Frisco King and starring in the action thriller The Beast. Dyer, best known as Nancy Wheeler in Stranger Things, is currently filming HBO’s The Trial of Louise Woodward, and Wood, a Lord of the Rings icon turned horror regular, is set to reprise Frodo Baggins in The Hunt for Gollum following recent genre work in Ready or Not 2 and The Monkey.
With Jackson and Cusack’s return still contingent on finalized negotiations, the biggest open question heading into 2027 production isn’t who’s leading the film, it’s whether the two actors most responsible for the original’s cult status actually end up in the finished sequel at all.