Smile 2 teaser trailer was shown at CinemaCon (2024)

Last Updated on April 14, 2024

Writer/director Parker Finn’s sequel to his 2022 horror film Smile (read our reviewHERE, watch the movieHERE)is aiming for anOctober 18th theatricalrelease date – and with that date just six months away, Paramount decided to start building the hype for Smile 2 during their panel at CinemaCon today. They showed a teaser trailer to the people who attended their panel, and in the audience was JoBlo’s own Lance Vlcek!

Lance describes what he saw in this teaser: “Story appears to be set around a Taylor Swift type of mega-star artist (Naomi Scott) who gets sucked into the curse of Smile. The sequel has a bigger budget and slicker look, seems to be bigger in scope. There was a very cool scene where a crowd of people under control of the entity are in a tight backstage hallway chasing Naomi Scott, all of the smiling in that creepy way. Plot-wise, it doesn’t give much away. It was a montage of creepy imagery, jump scares, and a whole lot of creepy people smiling.“

Smilewas based on Finn’s short filmLaura Hasn’t Slept(watch itHERE), which won the Special Jury Recognition Prize in SXSW’s Midnight Short category. Caitlin Stasey (Neighbours) played the title character in that short, and reprises the role inSmile, making it a follow-up of sorts.Smilehas the following synopsis:After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can’t explain. As an overwhelming terror begins taking over her life, Rose must confront her troubling past in order to survive and escape her horrifying new reality.

Smilewas produced by Temple Hill, and they are producingSmile 2as well. The sequel stars Naomi Scott ofAladdinandCharlie’s Angels, Lukas Gage ofThe White LotusandYou, Rosemarie DeWitt ofLa La Landand thePoltergeistremake, Dylan Gelula ofUnbreakable Kimmy SchmidtandDream Scenario, Raúl Castillo ofArmy of the DeadandKnives Out, Miles Gutierrez-Riley ofThe WildsandOn The Come Up, and Kyle Gallner (Red State), reprising the role he played in the first movie.

Finn haspreviously saidthat he feels there’s a lot of interesting stuff left to explore in the world ofSmile. “I would never want to just repeat myself or retread the same ground. I’d want to make sure that there’s a new, exciting, fresh way into it that the audience isn’t anticipating. I also want to find some new ways to scare them and unnerve them. But as far as how it may connect to the first one, I’d want that to be surprising as well.“

Are you looking forward to Smile 2? What do you think of the information that came out of CinemaCon? Let us know by leaving a comment below.