Smile 2 is arriving in theaters and Paramount is once again counting on the viral marketing strategy that made the first film a box office winner before it even opened. However, it’s hard to catch lightning in a bottle twice – and that’s proving to be the case with the Smile 2 viral marketing campaign, as one of the actors hired to invoke the horror film’s signature creepy grin couldn’t keep up the act.
One actor hired by the Smile 2 marketing team was planted behind home plate at Major League Baseball’s National League Championship Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets. In the bottom of the 8th inning, Mets pitcher Ryne Stanek was trying to close out the inning against Dodgers batter Max Muncy, who hit a pop-fly foul ball back over home plate.
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The prospect of the ball falling on his head was too much for the poor Smile 2 viral actor because he did a quick duck-and-cover move that totally broke the character of an unflinching, always-grinning creep in the crowd. Unfortunately for that actor, his moment of actual fear was caught on camera and the video is quickly going viral – making it hard to imagine he’ll be getting a callback from the Paramount marketing team in the future.
VIDEO: SMILE 2 VIRAL MARKETING GOES WRONG!
As stated, the Smile horror movie series became a pop-culture fixation before it opened in theaters in the fall of 2022. That summer, the PR team planted actors at key sporting events (“like” MLB playoff games), causing major trending buzz on social media – hype that ultimately translated into a big box office return ($217.4M on a $17M budget) and set the stage for a sequel film to follow.
Smile 2 Story & Cast Info
The Smile sequel will trade the smaller-scale premise of the first film (a therapist tracking a demonic curse entity after witnessing her patient’s violent suicide) for a pop-star-sized expansion:
While “about to embark on a new world tour, global pop sensation Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) begins experiencing increasingly terrifying and inexplicable events. Overwhelmed by the escalating horrors and the pressures of fame, Skye is forced to face her dark past to regain control of her life before it spirals out of control.”
Creator Parker Finn crafted Smile to be a psychological horror tale, with the first film using mental illness and suicide as the metaphorical subtext for its supernatural horror. Smile 2 looks to be continuing those themes while adding on the pressures and anxieties of being famous – issues that Finn, and this sequel, are not-so-coincidentally facing, as well.
Smile 2 stars Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Ray Nicholson, Dylan Gelula, Raรบl Castillo and Kyle Gallner. Parker Finn once again writes and directs, and the sequel is produced by Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner, Finn, and Robert Salerno.
Smile 2 will be released in theaters on October 18th.
