Paramount has unveiled the first trailer for “Smile 2,” the follow-up to the 2022 breakout horror hit “Smile.” The film, set to hit theaters on October 18, has a pop star (Naomi Scott) driven to insanity by an evil curse that takes victims in the form of a creepy smile.
Parker Finn, who wrote and directed the first one, returns with actor Kyle Gallner, who plays police officer Joel. The same shtick is back here, basically whoever witnesses someone else’s death at the hands of the entity becomes its next victim to be driven to suicide. The trailer hints that Joel might be next.
Other cast members include Lukas Gage, Rosemarie DeWitt, Dylan Gelula, Raúl Castillo and Miles Gutierrez-Riley.
Many have been trying to pinpoint the exact reasons why Finn’s “Smile” was such a resounding box-office success. After all, it had no big-name actors and reviews were not that overtly spectacular.
Part of its recipe for success was a perfectly timed-release date (being kept for the sequel) coinciding with good word of mouth, and horror being such a profitable genre. This all led to “Smile,” which had a small budget of $17 million, grossing over $200 million worldwide. It was a given that a sequel would happen.
During the movie year of 2022, horror was all the rage with mid-to-low budget titles such as “Smile,” “Terrifier 2,” “Halloween Ends,” “The Black Phone,” and “Barbarian” becoming big hits with audiences worldwide.
Finn is now a much sought after filmmaker. Just last week, it was revealed that Finn would direct a remake of the 1981 film “Possession” with Robert Pattinson potentially set to the star. Meetings to acquire the project, between some top-notch studios, including A24, Netflix, Paramount, Sony and Warner Bros, have been taking place these last few days.
Paul Greengrass’ "The Uprising," starring Andrew Garfield, opened to $3.2M from 2,068 theaters this weekend. Yikes. The budget hasn’t been disclosed, but is said to be in the $20-$30M range.