Paramount Pictures creeped baseball fans out over the weekend, with an eerie marketing campaign promoting its upcoming horror movie Smile. During the Red Sox-Yankees, Mets-Athletics and Cardinals-Dodgers games on Friday, September 23, the studio planted several actors in the stalls – and each of them spent the entire time staring into the broadcasting cameras while sporting a sinister-looking grin.
Starring Jessie T. Usher (The Boys), Kyle Gallner (Scream), Robin Weigert (Deadwood), and Mare of Easttown's Sosie Bacon, the film centers on Dr. Rose Cotter, a therapist who starts experiencing terrifying visions after a patient dies violently during a session.
Here’s some fun, clever movie promo - Paramount seemingly placed #Smile actors in the crowd at both the Yankees and Mets games last night, both in view of cameras. The results were indeed creepy. Going to a game this weekend? Watch out for the smiles! 😃 pic.twitter.com/aC3sqZjWvISeptember 24, 2022
Prior to her death, the patient – whose name comes from director Parker Finn's 2020 short film, Laura Hasn't Slept – was manic; adamant that something with a horrible smile had been haunting her. Desperate for answers, Rose looks into the malevolent entity, and discovers that the majority of people who claim to have seen it haven't lived longer than a week. So you can see why the freaky faces hiding in the audience got the internet talking...
"I have no idea if the movie is any good, but every aspect of the marketing campaign for SMILE has been incredible," one enthusiast wrote on Twitter, while another gushed: "Legit brilliant marketing stunt for the Smile movie."
"Honestly, this marketing scheme for the new horror movie Smile is perfection!!" raved a third.
Smile releases in the UK on September 28, and in the US on September 30. Not into horror? Check out our guide on the most exciting upcoming releases coming our way throughout the rest of 2022 and beyond.
