Smile 3: a new film confirmed with a new director

The horror franchise will continue without its creator behind the camera, as Parker Finn will focus on the Possession remake.

Make a smile: smile will come back!

According to VarietyParamount officially launched production of Smile 3 and handed over the controls to a new director.

It’s David Bruckner, filmmaker of the reboot ofHellraiser in 2022, which takes over the horrific saga. The screenplay will be written by Nick Antosca, to whom we owe the very successful mini-series Cape Fear This year.

At the helm of the first two opuses, the creator of the franchise, Parker Finn, will therefore not produce this third part of smilebut will remain involved as a producer alongside Temple Hill. He also imagined the main lines of this new story. Jonathan Fass will executive produce.

The choice of David Bruckner is not insignificant. The filmmaker established himself in horror cinema with The Ritual (2017), The Night House (2020) and the return ofHellraiser in 2022. He is currently multiplying projects: he is developing a reboot of The Blob for Warner Bros., working on the adaptation of The Caretaker for Universal, with Sydney Sweeney, and is also to direct Mice for A24.

For the moment, no details on the plot of Smile 3 has not been revealed. The first film, released in 2022, followed a therapist, played by Sosie Bacon, confronted with terrifying hallucinations after witnessing the death of a patient. In Smile 2released in 2024, Naomi Scott played a pop star whose tour takes a nightmarish turn.

The two films function as independent stories, with new characters in each episode, the casting of the third part also remains mysterious.

The first smile had created a surprise at the box office with 217 million dollars in worldwide revenue. The sequel had a more modest journey, but just as profitable given its budget (28 million): Smile 2 grossed $139 million worldwide.

Parker Finn now passes the baton to David Bruckner, as he prepares the remake of Possession, cult horror film from the 1970s by Andrzej Żuławski, with a terrifying Isabelle Adjani.

Smile 3 does not yet have a release date.