We’re just one week away from the release of director Matt Reeves‘ The Batman, and Deadline has broken the news that one of the projects he’ll be following the superhero movie with is a vampire movie called Smile. Reeves won’t be directing that one, but he is producing it through his company 6th & Idaho.
Set up at the Netflix streaming service, Smile will be directed by William McGregor from a screenplay he wrote with Helen Kingston. The story centers on
teenager Millie, whose life is turned upside down when she’s bitten by a vampire while traveling to Los Angeles with her school. Wanting nothing more than to be human again, Millie learns she can reverse the process if she is able to kill the man who bit her before the next sunrise.
McGregor previously directed multiple short films and episodes of the shows Poldark, Retribution, The Missing, and His Dark Materials, among others. His feature directorial debut was the 2018 horror movie Gwen. Kingston previously wrote the 2019 Lena Headey film The Flood and co-wrote the 2015 horror movie The Carrier.
Intriguingly, Smile is said to be “a vampire story in the spirit of Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive.” Someone hunting down the vampire that bit them in a movie that’s reminiscent of the tone and / or style of Drive sounds like an entertaining viewing experience to me.
Smile seems to be in early stages, so there’s no casting news to report at this time, but we’ll be keeping an eye on the project as it moves forward and will provide updates as more information is made available.
How does this movie sound to you? Let us know by leaving a comment below. While you’re at it, let us know if you’re planning to see The Batman on the big screen next week, if you’re going to wait an extra 45 days to watch it on HBO Max, or if you’re just going to skip it entirely.