Smile continues to dominate at the box office, grossing over $70 million domestically since its release in late September. From the mind of director Parker Finn, Smile is quickly establishing itself as one of the biggest contenders of 2022 in the horror genre. The film, which builds on Finn .’s previous short film Laura didn’t sleepfollows Dr. Rose Cotter, who witnesses a patient’s suicide and begins to experience a series of bizarre and horrific events.
Led by Sosie Bacon as Rose, Caitlin Stasey, Kyle Gallner, Rob Morgan and Jessie T. Usher star in this unique entry into the horror genre. Since its release in theaters on September 30, Smile has had huge, if not somewhat unexpected, success as it was produced on a budget of just $17 million. The momentum has only continued when Smile and went on to secure the second-best box office weekend for a horror film since the critically acclaimed Jordan Peele Out. As the film enters its fourth week, Smiles success doesn’t seem to slow down much.
Per Varietysaw last week Smile continue to kill at the box office, hitting a solid $12.4 million in the third weekend, only down 33% in the second week, bringing the domestic total to $71.1 million. Most striking was that this week the release of Halloween endsthe third installment in the Halloween reboot trilogy. This highly anticipated sequel, fronted by scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis, grossed $41.2 million, making Smile‘s continued box office success even more impressive.
Will Smile 2 Happen?
Given the incredible success of Smile, it’s not unlikely that discussions are already underway about a film studio sequel, Paramount. Finn has previously opened up about any current plans for: Smile 2, showing that he’s not interested in renewing the same story and instead wants to create something people don’t expect. Currently, Smile 2 has not been confirmed, although given the general story and Smile‘s shocking turn of events, it’s fair to say that the public would probably be very interested in exploring this terrifying concept further.
As horror continues to establish itself in the favorite genres of 2022, it’s great to see original concepts like these continue to bring audiences to theaters. Both the film’s director and Paramount are likely to be pleased with the continued success of Smile and would certainly like to repeat this with any subsequent sequels, although it remains to be seen if the future will bring any sort of follow-up Smile. Considering that it was significantly cheaper to produce than its fellow contenders within the genre, Paramount might consider exploring more original concepts in the future. For now, as the Halloween season continues, it will be interesting to see what the coming weeks have in store Smile as it now makes its way to the $100 million mark.
Source: Variety
