Last Updated on September 5, 2024 by Angel Melanson
Paramount Pictures has officially released a brand new trailer for Smile 2. As the title makes perfectly clear, this is the sequel to director Parker Finn’s breakout feature debut Smile, which hit theaters in 2022. Paramount and Finn wasted precisely zero time in getting a sequel together. This time, we’re following a new cast with an entirely new storyline. It’s the same old deadly smiling game though. Check it out.
Naomi Scott is our new lead as a big pop star named Skye Riley. Kyle Gallner’s Joel will be returning from the first film, but he’s nowhere to be found in this trailer. The big thing that stands out here is just how much bigger we’re going this time around. There are larger set pieces, a larger world to explore, and even a Drew Barrymore cameo. The other thing that seems clear is that we’re kind of going the Final Destination 2 route here of having someone who knows the rules of the game and teaches them to the audience along the way. Bigger isn’t always better but this looks like it could be a winning recipe.
“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 was a huge surprise hit in 2022, taking in $217 million worldwide against a very reasonable $17 million budget. It remains one of the biggest original Hollywood hits since the pandemic began. That made Finn pretty immediately an A-lister in the genre game, with Paramount locking him down with a deal that included the forthcoming sequel as a priority.
This year, Smile 2 will be the big Halloween season release, which feels rather appropriate. The other big one is Terrifier 3, which hits theaters the week before. Though, amazingly enough, that’s actually more of a Christmas movie this time around. Either way, this sequel is very well positioned to give this budding franchise a two for two track record in the early going.
In addition to his writing and directing duties, Finn is also on board as a producer for the sequel alongside Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner and Robert Salerno. The cast for the follow-up includes Rosemarie DeWitt (The Staircase), Lukas Gage (The White Lotus), Miles Gutierrez-Riley (The Wilds), Peter Jacobson (Fear the Walking Dead), Raúl Castillo (Army of the Dead), Dylan Gelula (Dream Scenario) and Ray Nicholson (Panic).
Smile 2 hits theaters on October 18.
