Smile 2 - Release Date, Director, And More Info

2022's "Smile" was a sleeper hit, but audiences weren't sleeping well after watching that scary experience.

The film follows Rose (Sosie Bacon), a therapist who witnesses hysterical patient Laura (Caitlin Stasey) kill herself while brandishing a sinister smile. Soon, Rose sees other people wearing the grin and promising her she'll die in a week. Our heroine realizes that she's the latest link in a chain of demonic serial killings; her curse is spread by trauma, and unless she wants to kill someone and traumatize an onlooker, she must confront her own past.

"Smile" is an underdog success story worthy of Hollywood. On a production budget of only $17 million, the movie grossed $217 million, becoming the biggest original horror movie of 2022 in a year filled with successes for the genre. The film had originally been slated for a Paramount+ release but was moved to theaters after positive test screenings.

With these results on the movie's side, it makes total sense that a sequel is coming to theaters soon too.

Paramount has dated "Smile 2" to premiere on October 18, 2024, in theaters. Just on the surface, this makes sense; why not release a horror movie in October/Halloween season when audiences will want a spooky good time at the movies?

This decision tracks with trends reaching back to the first film. "Smile" was released wide on September 30, 2022 (after an exclusive premiere at Fantastic Fest 2022 the week earlier). It held well into October, only falling out of the domestic box office top three on the week of October 28. Indeed, it was first dethroned by another horror movie, Universal's "Halloween Ends."

Competition-wise, "Joker: Folie à Deux" is set to premiere in theaters on October 4, 2024. However, I don't think this will impede "Smile 2." The first "Joker" was a monster hit, but it will have been out for two weeks already by the 18th. At that point, audiences will probably be looking for an alternative, and "Smile 2" will be there to answer their prayers.

Now, whether "Smile 2" can make this October release date will depend on when the ongoing WGA/SAG strikes are settled. Studios should be as gung-ho about paying their creatives as they are with setting release dates.

That's currently unknown. It's easy to guess the film will focus on a new bearer of the curse, given the original ended with the demon undefeated. A possessed Rose committed suicide to pass the demon onto her ex Joel (Kyler Gallner). Gallner told /Film last year that he hadn't heard about returning for a sequel, but he still had ideas for a Joel-focused sequel:

"I think there is something interesting to picking up a film like that almost immediately after. Because usually it's something where it's like, you see the curse, it happens, and then it cuts, and it's a whole new group of people. And it does the same thing again. It's kind of cool because there are already rules established with these characters that already know certain things. So it's not like they have to go back and try to relearn all of these things all over again."

Director Parker Finn told Den of Geek that, "There are a lot of stones that are purposely left unturned in the film." While Finn has thought about the entity's origins himself, he indicated he'd probably prefer continued mystery over delving into its backstory:

"What I really love is its elusive nature ... Rose almost feels like she's the butt of a giant, really mean-spirited cosmic joke. That felt relatable and frightening, versus somebody conjuring some spell out of a book from the 1400s or something like that."

So, a "Smile" prequel is a possibility, but not a probability.

Parker Finn will be returning to direct "Smile 2," as well as write and produce the sequel. In fact, he signed an exclusive first-look deal with Paramount back in March 2023.

Finn's resume is thin; "Smile" was his feature debut. He had helmed short films before, though: "The Hidebehind" and "Laura Hasn't Slept." The latter was the basis for "Smile." Proof of concept shorts being turned into features is fairly common with horror films (see "Mama," "Lights Out," etc.). However, "Smile" wasn't a remake of "Laura Hasn't Slept" but a sequel. The short's Laura is the same one who kills herself in "Smile" and curses Rose (with Caitlin Stasey playing the part in both films).

It remains to be seen if Finn will get to stretch his filmmaking muscles beyond the "Smile" franchise at Paramount. We'll just have to wait and see how the sequel performs.

Stay tuned at /Film for updates about "Smile 2."