'Smile 2' director Parker Finn speaks about sequel, future of franchise

Washington [US], October 16 : After 'Smile' received a rave reaction in 2022, writer-director Parker Finn is back with the sequel of the hit horror film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The sequel to the 2022 horror film follows Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), a famous pop singer.
"The first month that I started thinking about a sequel, any idea that came to me I just threw out right away because I was like if it's coming to me this quickly, it's too obvious," said the filmmaker at the film's L.A. premiere, adding, "I love the world of pop. I'm fascinated by some of these women -- these personas out there, who the real person is behind that velvet robe. And one I sort of stumbled on this idea of this mega pop star in Skye Riley, I just got kind of electrified by it and got obsessed with it."
The film revolves around a mysterious entity, which looks like people creepily smiling. It scares a psychiatrist, played by Sosie Bacon. The pop sensation also gets terrified by horrifying incidents.
Finn took inspiration from stars like Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Britney Spears, Sia, Olivia Rodrigo, Tate McRae, and Charli XCX for the superstar, to "create somebody that both felt instantly familiar but had her own unique flavour as well."
Scott, who plays the superstar shared that she was immediately inclined towards the storyline.
Finn also explained how he helped his actors achieve the film's signature smiles, saying, "sometimes the actors show up clearly really prepared, like I can tell they've been at home studying in the mirror, and other times it takes a little more coaching."
"I find what you want to do is smile actually in a friendly way; you don't want to overexaggerate it, you don't want to strain your face, but it's all about disconnecting the eyes from the smile, and then about how you position the head," he added.
He uses the idea of The Kubrick stare, a technique used to portray insane or unstable characters in film.
"There's a bit of a head tilt that happens; there's the famous 'Kubrick Stare,' we sort of leaned into that idea, and then it becomes all about the filmmaking tools of framing and sound design," he shared.
Talking about the future of the franchise, "There are so many exciting roads that Smile could go down. We'll have to see how audiences react to Smile 2, but I think that's what's great about Smile is there's an opportunity to tell all different kinds of diverse stories and sort of place ourselves in different worlds that Smile then comes in and invades, " as per The Hollywood Reporter.