Smile continues to dominate at the box office, having grossed more than $70 million domestically since its late September release. From the mind of director Parker Finn, Smile is quickly establishing itself as one of 2022's biggest contenders in the horror genre. The film, which expands upon Finn's previous short film Laura Hasn't Slept, follows Dr. Rose Cotter, who witnesses the suicide of a patient and begins experiencing a series of bizarre and horrifying occurrences.
Led by Sosie Bacon as Rose, this unique entry into the horror genre also stars Caitlin Stasey, Kyle Gallner, Rob Morgan and Jessie T. Usher. Since releasing in theaters on September 30, Smile has enjoyed enormous, if not slightly unexpected success given that it was produced with just a $17 million budget. The momentum has only continued as Smile then secured the box office's second best weekend for a horror film since Jordan Peele's critically acclaimed Get Out. Now, as the film enters its fourth week, Smile's success doesn't seem to be slowing down much at all.
Per Variety, this past week saw Smile continue to kill it at the box office, having brought in a solid $12.4 million in its third weekend, just a 33% decrease on its second week, bringing its domestic total up to $71.1 million. Most notably, this week saw the release of Halloween Ends, the third installment in the Halloween reboot trilogy. Fronted by scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis, this highly anticipated sequel brought in $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 surrounding a sequel may already be underway at the film's studio, Paramount. Finn has previously opened up about any current plans for Smile 2, revealing that he isn't interested in retreading the same story and would instead want to make something that people aren't expecting. At this time, Smile 2 has not been confirmed, though given the overall story and Smile's shocking twist-ending, it's fair to say that audiences would likely be very interested in seeing this terrifying concept explored further.
As horror continues to establish itself among the fan-favorite genres of 2022, it's fantastic to see original concepts such as this continue to bring audiences into theaters. Both the film's director and Paramount are likely to be delighted with the ongoing success of Smile and would surely be keen to replicate this with any subsequent sequels, though it remains to be seen whether the future will yield any sort of follow up to Smile. Given that it was considerably cheaper to produce than its fellow contenders within the genre, perhaps Paramount would consider exploring more original concepts going forward. For now, as the Halloween season continues, it will be interesting to see what the coming weeks hold in store for Smile as it now makes its way towards the $100 million mark.
Source: Variety