Now it’s official: “Smile” is getting a sequel. Studio Paramount confirmed this at the CinemaCon cinema fair, which ended this week. The announcement of “Smile 2” comes as no surprise, however, for two reasons:
On the one hand “Smile” has grossed $217 million worldwide on a budget of just $17 million – a very nice margin for Paramount, as they only come with this kind of low-budget horror movie. And furthermore, ‘Smile’ was one of the horror hypes of the cinema year 2022, if not the horror sensation par excellence.
And on the other hand, ‘Smile’ director Parker Finn had already signed a so-called first-look deal with Paramount in March 2023., which was considered by the industry as another strong indication of a “Smile” sequel. A first-look deal means Paramount now has first-hand access to Parker Finn’s upcoming projects and can only place its films with other studios if Paramount isn’t interested.
At the time of this agreement, it wasn’t 100% clear what Finn’s next movie would be, but following the CinemaCon announcement, what many suspected is now official: Parker Finn returns as the writer and director of Smile 2. The planned start date is 2024, probably in the second half of the year to give Finn enough time for scripting and filming. So there is currently no time for another project.
What awaits us in “Smile 2”?
Warning, there are spoilers for the first “Smile”!
However, it’s unclear what a “Smile 2” might be about. What is certain is that the movie will probably get a new main character if it becomes an actual sequel and not a prequel or side-quel that plays parallel to the first part.
Since “Smile” is about a curse that is passed from person to person, the film series, which is reminiscent of horror films such as “The Ring”, “It Follows” or “Final Destination”, could be continued indefinitely – for example with Joel (Kyle Gallner), to which the curse passes at the end of Part 1.
In any case, Parker Finn has already explained in interviews that there are still some touch points in the first “Smile” and that he could not process many ideas in the first film…