Here’s something to put a smirk on the face of horror fans, Smile 3 is officially a go at Paramount with Hellraiser‘s David Bruckner at the helm.
With Parker Finn busy rebooting Possession, Variety report that Bruckner will inherit the $350 million grossing horror franchise and work from a story that Finn developed when he conceived Smile as a trilogy. Verity and Cape Fear scribe Nick Antosca will pen the screenplay.
Originally set for a streaming release in 2022, Smile was granted a theatrical release off the back of some stellar test screenings and went on to become the highest grossing original horror movie of that year, earning $107 million domestically and $217 million worldwide.
Smile starred Sosie Bacon as a doctor pursued by a malevolent entity fixed with a terrifying perma-grin. A sequel followed in 2024 that shifted the story to Naomi Scott’s struggling pop star. While it wasn’t as successful as the original, it still garnered strong reviews and grossed $139 million worldwide.
As well as resurrecting Pinhead in 2022, Bruckner has the underrated horror gems The Ritual and The Night House on his CV, and is currently working on a remake of The Blob, Sidney Sweeney’s supernatural horror The Caretaker, and A24’s mysterious horror Mice.
