By this point, few things can truly scare me in a movie theater. And yet, Smile left me absolutely shaken thanks to its expertly crafted scares, imagery that’s simply perfect (the smile as a symbol of evil) and a plot that is, at the very least, original. I have to admit Smile 2 felt like more of the same to me, but seeing that it made $138 million on a budget of just $28 million… would you really resist making a third installment?
Movies that leave you with a smile
However, Smile 3 will not have its creator, Parker Finn, in the director’s chair, as at 39 he is shooting the remake of Possession with an eye on its 2027 release. But, given that it’s not as if the franchise has much mystery left to it or is impossible to replicate, they’ll have no trouble replacing him with David Bruckner, known for the Hellraiser remake or The Ritual. Reliable, still fairly young, and an expert in horror: nothing can go wrong.
Although Finn left notes on what the premise for this third installment should be, the truth is that the script still hasn’t been written. It will be Nick Antosca, showrunner of Cape Fear or Channel Zero, who will be handling it. And things couldn’t look better: Antosca and Bruckner may not be as famous as some of their contemporaries, but they know how to keep things fresh enough to leave us asking for more.
We still don’t know what this new installment will be about, but since so far the first two have been standalone stories it’ll probably just be another story set in this universe. We’ll know before long: if they’ve just brought its creators on board, it’s likely that, at the earliest, we’ll have Smile 3 (Smil3? I’ll just leave that idea out there) in 2028. We’ll be waiting.
