Bath native, director Parker Finn set to return with 'Smile 2'

Bath native Parker Finn made a splash in horror film circles with the release of “Smile,” his feature film debut.

The film, released at the tail end of the pandemic in 2022, was aided by an ingenious marketing campaign which saw the studio position grinning individuals at assorted high-profile events (like behind home plate at a nationally televised baseball game), to heighten curiosity.

It worked.

Made for $17 million, the creepfest, which was originally conceived as a film for streaming service Paramount+, grossed $217 million worldwide. That’s what’s known as a nice return on investment and made a sequel an inevitability.

Paramount will release that sequel, “Smile 2,” Oct. 18 and to build some anticipation, the trailer dropped Tuesday:

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Bath native, director Parker Finn set to return with 'Smile 2'