Smile 2 Adds White Lotus Star

A Smile sequel is set to hit theaters later this year and Deadline reports that The White Lotus, You, and Fargo star Lukas Gage has joined the project in an undisclosed role. While the HBO series has begun earning a reputation for enlisting established stars, Gage was one of the breakout stars of the first season of White Lotus, with his supporting role in that season earning him opportunities in a number of exciting projects. No details have been released about the plot of the upcoming sequel, with Gage joining the previously announced Naomi Scott. The Smile sequel is set to hit theaters on October 18th.

In the original Smile, after witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can’t explain. Rose must confront her troubling past in order to survive and escape her horrifying new reality. 

Original filmmaker Parker Finn is returning to write/direct the upcoming sequel. With the original film hitting theaters on September 30, 2022, it helped kick off the Halloween season and became a surprise hit at the box office. Finn previously shared what his outlook is for the franchise when it comes to developing sequels while honoring the spirit of the debut entry.

“I made Smile to, of course, be self-contained, tell its whole own story,” Finn shared with ComicBook.com in 2022 about the franchise’s possible future. “I didn’t think in a million years that there would be such a demand for a sequel. But having said that, I think there are definitely things inside of the film that remain purposefully unexplored that would be very exciting to dive into, and also things that I didn’t get a chance to do on the first one for either budget constraints or if it didn’t quite fit in the story that I think would be really exciting.”

He continued, “I still feel that I never want to overtly just repeat myself or do the same thing I just did, but I think that there could be a really exciting way for there to be more in the world of Smile, but something very unexpected and surprising for an audience with a lot of tricks up its sleeves.”

The Smile sequel hits theaters on October 18th.

Are you excited for the sequel? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!