Credit: Smile
Smile is arguably the biggest surprise of 2022. The year has been filled with strong horror titles: X, The Black Phone, Pearl, Barbarian, Bodies Bodies Bodies, and Terrifier 2 are just some of the examples of the great horror that’s been released throughout the year, though none of those come close to the financial success of Smile. Of course, it all comes down to the strong marketing of the cheap horror feature, which went viral when numerous actors went to various MLB games and, well…smiled. Creepily, of course. Add to the fact that the feature had an effective trailer, and reviews were mostly positive going into the opening weekend, and Smile had all the tools to be a success.
Ultimately it was a massive success. Smile opened with a solid $22.6 million; however, what’s been the most impressive of the original horror feature is its week-to-week holds following the first weekend. Smile topped the second weekend by only dropping a mere 22% by earning $17.6 million. Even with the looming threat of Halloween Ends, Smile’s box office totals slowly kept climbing. Ends opened with a massive $41.2 million, but the final film of David Gordon Green dropped off quickly as the divisive movie didn’t exactly leave audiences with a satisfying conclusion. Smile’s box office numbers never fizzled once. Not even when Black Adam arrived in theaters.
Credit: Smile
Smile has officially crossed the $200 million mark worldwide, and given the fact that this was based on a measly $20 million budget, this film is a massive success. Of course, in the world of Hollywood, when a film is this successful, that means it should be milked dry, especially horror. Does that mean a sequel to the surprise hit is coming? Well, nothing has been greenlit, though Parker Finn – writer and director of Smile – hasn’t ruled out the possibility of a sequel:
“I made Smile to, of course, be self-contained, tell its whole own story.” Finn says in his interview with Comicbook.com. “I didn’t think in a million years that there would be such a demand for a sequel. But having said that, I think there are definitely things inside of the film that remain purposefully unexplored that would be very exciting to dive into, and also things that I didn’t get a chance to do on the first one for either budget constraints or if it didn’t quite fit in the story that I think would be really exciting. I still feel that I never want to overtly just repeat myself or do the same thing I just did, but I think that there could be a really exciting way for there to be more in the world of Smile, but something very unexpected and surprising for an audience with a lot of tricks up its sleeves.”
Credit: Smile
It’s great that Finn isn’t looking to replicate the first film and possibly explore more if a sequel is confirmed. Smile doesn’t necessarily need a sequel, though there are plenty of intriguing ideas within the premise that allow for a possible sequel to be explored in a compelling manner. If less superior films like Ouija and Annabelle could have incredible sequels, then there’s no denying the possibility that Smile 2 could be something greater. In terms of the first film, Smile continues to make bank at the box office despite coming out on September 30th. However, the film has been officially released digitally on Amazon Video and iTunes. The official Blu-ray and DVD release of Smile is December 13th. Should a sequel to the horror hit be announced, then we’ll surely be one of the first to let you know about the huge news.
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