{"id":944794,"date":"2026-10-29T05:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T05:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/944794\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T05:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T05:24:11","slug":"smile-3-sets-new-director-and-writer-to-take-over-franchise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/944794\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Smile 3’ Sets New Director and Writer to Take Over Franchise"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tPut on a happy face, because \u201cSmile 3<\/a>\u201d is officially in the works.<\/p>\n

\n\tParamount has hired David Bruckner to direct and Nick Antosca to write the screenplay. They\u2019re taking over for Parker Finn, who created the series and will remain involved as a producer alongside Temple Hill. (Finn pitched the framework for the third installment.) Jonathan Fass will executive produce.<\/p>\n

\n\tBruckner\u2019s credits include the 2022 \u201cHellraiser\u201d reboot, 2017\u2019s psychological thriller \u201cThe Ritual\u201d and 2020\u2019s supernatural horror film \u201cThe Night House.\u201d Bruckner is particularly in demand as of late: he\u2019s currently writing and developing a reboot of the sci-fi horror classic, \u201cThe Blob,\u201d for Warner Bros., as well as Universal\u2019s adaptation of \u201cThe Caretaker,\u201d starring Sydney Sweeney, plus he\u2019s set to direct \u201cMice\u201d for A24.<\/p>\n

\n\tAntosca is best known for creating Apple\u2019s miniseries \u201cCape Fear\u201d and co-creating Hulu\u2019s \u201cThe Act,\u201d as well as writing 2021\u2019s \u201cAntlers\u201d and the most recent Colleen Hoover adaptation \u201cVerity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPlot details for the third \u201cSmile\u201d movie haven\u2019t been revealed. The first film stars Sosie Bacon as a therapist who becomes haunted by hallucinations after witnessing a patient die. In the second, Naomi Scott plays a pop singer who begins to experience a series of disturbing events as she embarks on tour.\u00a0Since each \u201cSmile\u201d movie has functioned as a standalone sequel, with a separate story and new stars, it\u2019s unclear who will appear in the threequel.<\/p>\n

\n\tFinn wrote and directed 2022\u2019s \u201cSmile\u201d and the 2024 sequel \u201cSmile 2.\u201d The original film \u2014 commissioned for streaming before pivoting to a theatrical release \u2014 became a sleeper hit, with $105 million domestically and $217 million globally. The follow-up wasn\u2019t quite as big at the box office but became a commercial win, with $69 million domestically and $139 million globally against a modest $28 million budget. In total, the franchise has earned more than $350 million worldwide.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlthough Finn isn\u2019t spearheading \u201cSmile 3,\u201d he\u2019s still working closely with Paramount, having signed a first-look deal with the studio after the first \u201cSmile\u201d became a theatrical success. Finn is directing a remake of the 1981 supernatural thriller \u201cPossession,\u201d starring Callum Turner and Margaret Qualley and set for June 11, 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Put on a happy face, because \u201cSmile 3\u201d is officially in the works. Paramount has hired David Bruckner…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":944795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[64,63,134,344,511935],"class_list":["post-944794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-smile-3"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=944794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/944795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=944794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=944794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=944794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}