Smile Sequel Confirmed at Paramount as Plot Possibilities Abound

Say you’re a horror fan enjoying yet another resurgence of the most resilient of all genres as it booms in another thrilling horror cycle. Perhaps you caught savvy curse thriller Smile last year and admired the solid construction of director Parker Finn’s debut feature film, as we did. Ending as it does, how would you approach a Smile 2, exactly? Is this a case where audiences just want to be supplied with some more of the same, or a launching pad for kooky experimentation? Can we call this one Grin, or perhaps Smirk? No wait, I got it–Upside Down Frown. Yep, that’s it, we’ve struck gold.

Regardless, we now know that Smile sequel is officially on its way, regardless of whether it’s called Smile 2 or anything eles. Paramount confirmed the film’s development during their CinemaCon presentation, without giving many other details, including whether writer-director Parker Finn would be returning for a second installment of what could become a burgeoning franchise. If we had to guess, though, we’d wager that Finn would probably relish the opportunity to tell at least one more Smile story after the first was so good to him. On a modest $17 million budget (which isn’t bad, for horror), the film was extremely profitable at the global box office, raking in more than $217 million. A classic indie horror success story, indeed.

And it’s not as if a Smile sequel would be totally driven by economic imperatives, as quite a lot of groundwork is laid in the film for a potential sequel expanding upon this particularly vicious entity that infects the minds of its victims, causing them to gruesomely kill themselves in front of others. There’s an interesting focus, for instance, on the nephew of main character Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon), who seems to be scarred by his interactions with his aunt as she completes a weeklong psychological meltdown. Perhaps the most likely protagonist, though, would be Joel (Kyle Gallner), who is present in the film’s big climax. A Smile 2 could potentially pick up exactly where the first one left off, following Joel as he tries to tackle the same challenges as Rose. It would be a fitting feature opportunity for Gallner, an actor who has played supporting roles in numerous horror films such as Jennifer’s Body, The Haunting in Connecticut, Red State and the 2022 Scream reboot.

We’ll bring you more information on the Smile sequel when it arrives–in the meantime, the original is currently streaming on Amazon, so check it out.