Writer/director Parker Finn is gearing up to head into production on a sequel to his 2022 horror film Smile (read our review HERE, watch the movie HERE), aiming for an October 18, 2024 theatrical release date. Last month, it was announced that Naomi Scott of Aladdin and Charlie’s Angels has been cast in Smile 2, and now she has a co-star. Deadline reports that Scott is being joined in the cast by Lukas Gage, whose previous credits include episodes of Euphoria, The White Lotus, You, and the soon-to-wrap-up Fargo season 5. I first saw Gage in the Blumhouse horror production Into the Dark: Midnight Kiss.
Details on the characters Scott and Gage will be playing in Smile 2 have not been revealed. Plot details are also being kept under wraps.
Smile was based on Finn’s short film Laura Hasn’t Slept (watch it HERE), which won the Special Jury Recognition Prize in SXSW’s Midnight Short category. Caitlin Stasey (Neighbours) played the title character in that short, and reprises the role in Smile, making it a follow-up of sorts. Smile has the following synopsis: After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can’t explain. As an overwhelming terror begins taking over her life, Rose must confront her troubling past in order to survive and escape her horrifying new reality.
Stasey was joined in the cast by Sosie Bacon, Kal Penn, Kyle Gallner, Jessie T. Usher, Rob Morgan, Judy Reyes, and Gillian Zinser.
Smile was produced by Temple Hill, and they are producing Smile 2 as well.
Finn has previously said that he feels there’s a lot of interesting stuff left to explore in the world of Smile. “I would never want to just repeat myself or retread the same ground. I’d want to make sure that there’s a new, exciting, fresh way into it that the audience isn’t anticipating. I also want to find some new ways to scare them and unnerve them. But as far as how it may connect to the first one, I’d want that to be surprising as well.“
Are you looking forward to Smile 2? What do you think of Lukas Gage joining Naomi Scott in the cast? Let us know by leaving a comment below.