Audiences are getting ready to turn their frowns upside down once again with the teaser trailer for Smile 2 from Paramount Pictures.
Director Parker Finn‘s follow-up to his surprise 2022 horror hit is set to debut theatrically Oct. 18. The sequel sees Kyle Gallner return as Joel alongside cast newcomers Naomi Scott, Lukas Gage and Rosemarie DeWitt.
“Something really crazy is happening to me,” Scott says in the trailer. “I keep seeing this face everywhere.”
Later, she screams, “Stop smiling at me!”
Finn wrote and directed the sequel to Smile, which was based on his short film Laura Hasn’t Slept. Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner and Robert Salerno serve as producers on the new feature.
The first Smile centered on a psychiatrist (played by Sosie Bacon) who is tormented after witnessing a traumatic incident with a patient. It collected $216 million globally on a $17 million budget and led to Finn signing a first-look deal with Paramount.
Gage spoke to The Hollywood Reporter earlier this year about having dry-heaved during the film’s shoot due to the intensity of the scenes. “I was really shocked how intense it is on the day,” the Euphoria standout said at the time. “You just think, ‘Oh, it’s acting, it’s gonna be fine,’ but that movie is so scary. The whole crew was terrified. That smile itself is just so creepy, and then you throw the most gory scenes on top of it.”
The actor went on to praise Finn for recapturing the magic of the original movie. “He just takes it to the next level, and we have some really cool cameos happening in this movie,” Gage said.