Parker Finn, the director behind the 2022 horror gemSmile, says there are some ideas he wants to explore witha franchise continuation. While the sequelSmile 2will be released in the upcoming weeks, Finn is addressing that we haven’t seen everything yet in the horror universe of creepy smiles:“We felt like we’d uncovered the mystery in the first one, but we’ve maybe only scooped a single glass of water out of the ocean.”
Asreported by Games Radar, Finn is already thinking of making a third film of what can already be considered a blockbuster franchise. The first film, released in 2022, was a groundbreaking success in the post-COVID-19 era.Smilewas planned to be an exclusive release on Paramount+, but after very positive test screenings, and the resulting hype after premiering at Fantastic Fest and Beyond Fest, Paramount Pictures decided to go for a theatrical release. The result was a $217 million blockbuster with an instantly-approved sequel.
While promotingSmile 2, the director spoke of the possibility of further exploring the concept with more sequels and stories:
“There was information I had for myself that wasn’t expressed in the first film that I took the opportunity to bring into the new one, so whatSmile 2is doing is showing us new things.
There are some ideas that I think are very exciting. I think it’s really fun to imagine a lineage ofSmilemovies where each one becomes more off the rails than the previous one.
What’s really interesting aboutSmileis that you may find yourself in different stories, different characters, different worlds.”
About to embark on a new world tour, global pop sensation Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) begins experiencing increasingly terrifying and inexplicable events. Overwhelmed by the escalating horrors and the pressures of fame, Skye is forced to face her dark past to regain control of her life before it spirals out of control.
Smile 2stars Naomi Scott as Skye Riley, a world-famous pop musician who finds herself facing the ultimate threat as she’s going on a world tour. The film features modern horror king Kyle Gallner, reprising his character from the first movie. The supporting cast also includes Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage, Raúl Castillo, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Drew Barrymore, among others. It’s still uncertain what role Barrymore will play during her legendary return to horror.
Could the Smile Phenomenon Take Place Again?
Marketing was a huge factor during the promotion ofSmile. The campaign went viral on social media after random people started creepily smiling in the street, and people started recording them. The hype was instant and made everyone think how such an easy concept hadn’t been explored before. Making over $200 million at the box office against a budget of $17 million was also proof that viral marketing was the way to gofor the second film.
Smile: Scariest Moments, Ranked
Smile was a smash hit and a breakout film for the horror genre. These were the scariest moments that made it so chilling.
ForSmile 2, the tone has been taken down a notch. So far, we’ve only seen Skye Riley being promoted as a real pop star with real singles being released and billboards being put up to promote her latest album. While any marketing is good marketing, it is yet to be seen whetherSmile 2can repeat the success of its predecessor as Halloween approaches. As long as it becomes even a moderate hit, then we can probably expect to seeSmilebecoming an annual piece of event cinema.
