Smile 2 director says the sequel uses ideas that didn’t make it into the first film – and he already has a plan for a third movie too

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Exclusive: Parker Finn says Smile 2 is "showing us new things"

Smile 2 trailer
(Image credit: Paramount)

Smile 2 director Parker Finn says that even though the first movie "uncovered" the curse – we ain't seen nothin' yet.

"There was information I had for myself that wasn’t expressed in the first film that I took the opportunity to bring into the new one, so what Smile 2 is doing is showing us new things," Finn tells SFX magazine in the new issue, which features Terrifier 3 on the cover and hits newsstands on October 2. "We felt like we’d uncovered the mystery in the first one, but we’ve maybe only scooped a single glass of water out of the ocean."

The sequel to the surprise horror blockbuster stars Naomi Scott (Aladdin, Charlie's Angels) as a pop star who becomes afflicted with the curse as she embarks on a world tour. The cast includes Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Dylan Gelula, Ray Nicholson, and Kyle Gallner in a reprisal of his role from the first film.

"There are some ideas that I think are very exciting. I think it’s really fun to imagine a lineage of Smile movies where each one becomes more off the rails than the previous one," Finn adds, lightly teasing the concept of a full-out Smile horror franchise – which wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility given that the films have a similar campiness as franchises like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th. "What’s really interesting about Smile is that you can find yourself in different stories, different characters, different worlds."

Smile hit theaters in 2022 and earned over $217 million against a budget of $17 million, and received largely positive reviews. Sosie Bacon starred as a therapist who witnessed the bizarre suicide of a patient, only to realize it's the work of something more sinister and supernatural. You might remember that Gallner's Joel is the only person Bacon's Rose can talk to about the curse – and that he has it, too. Whether he becomes a saving grace or an added terror for Scott's Skye Riley remains to be seen.

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Smile 2 releases on October 18. Read more in the latest issue of SFX magazine, which features Terrifier 3 on the cover and will be available from Wednesday, October 2. 

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Lauren Milici
Lauren Milici
Senior Entertainment Writer

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ based in New York City. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.