Original Smile Star Joins Cast of Sequel
Kyle Gallner will return to the series for this year's sequel.
While the original Smile teased a devastating fate for Kyle Gallner's Joel, TheWrap reports that Gallner is returning for the upcoming sequel. Fans of the film will surely hope that Joel has a significant presence in the upcoming adventure as opposed to only appearing to suffer the same fate as characters in the first film, though the ending of Smile hinted that things aren't going to end up well for the figure. Also joining the upcoming sequel is Rosemarie DeWitt, while previously announced cast members include Naomi Scott and Lukas Gage. 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. In the film's finale, Rose appeared to have conquered the presence, only for audiences to witness her fatal sacrifice in front of Joel, implying that he would be the next victim of the supernatural curse.
The film came from filmmaker Parker Finn, with Smile starting off as the short film Laura Hasn't Slept. With a run time of only ten minutes, Laura Hasn't Slept only features seeds of the mythology of Smile, though it stars Caitlin Stasey, who would appear in the unsettling opening scenes of Smile. Two years passed between the debut of Laura Hasn't Slept and the release of Smile, confirming how effectively Finn could expand on a concept in a relatively short amount of time.
Finn previously expressed his thoughts on a sequel and his overall outlook on his franchise.
"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.
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