After years of John Cusack saying this movie was the only one he’d return to for a sequel, that’s exactly what’s happening with Stephen King’s horror adaptation, 1408, nearly two decades after its theatrical debut. And Cusack isn’t alone; the original film’s director, Mikael Håfström, and co-star Samuel L. Jackson are also returning for more hotel-themed horror, this time alongside new faces Natalia Dyer of Stranger Things fame and Frodo Baggins himself, Elijah Wood.
As of right now, it looks like Wood is joining the project in a supporting role, while Dyer is set to star. Cusack and Jackson are also slated to return in supporting roles, though details about those roles and the project as a whole remain closely guarded. In 2025, Cusack spoke with People about a potential return, saying, “I was lucky that I never had the desire, or no one asked me to do any sequels. There’s one that I think would be interesting to do, which would be 1408. Just because … I think today, you know, most movies suck.”
Released in 2007, 1408, which is an adaptation of a Stephen King short story of the same name. The movie debuted to critical acclaim and remains a cult classic to this day. It centers on author Mike Enslin (Cusack), a skeptic who makes his living debunking supernatural phenomena. For his next project, Enslin checks into the Dolphin Hotel—notorious for its gruesome hauntings. There, he meets hotel manager Gerald Olin (Jackson), who warns him not to spend the night in room 1408—the hotel’s most haunted room. Obviously, Enslin ignores this advice, and hellish chaos ensues.
How the sequel will go is anyone’s guess, since the original film has multiple endings across mediums, leaving a ton of loose ends a follow-up film could tie up, especially with Dyer and Wood joining the cast. And if Håfström finds himself in need of ideas, fans are primed with more than a few as to where things could kick off, ranging from a prequel that explains the hotel’s haunted past and how it came to be, to the story beginning with Enslin still in the room, having been trapped there the entire time and now living as a permanent guest alongside Olin. This also opens the door for Enslin and Olin to guide Dyer’s character, leaving Wood as either a foil or a helper to the new star. No matter how it goes, though, horror fans are absolutely in for a treat—one that the original stars are thrilled to return to deliver to them (though some don’t want Cusack to return, claiming that Enslin’s ending is too perfect to retcon in any way).
