Writer-director Parker Finn burst onto the scene with the horror hit Smile, which thrilled audiences and propelled it to box-office success. The creepy viral marketing didn’t hurt either, featuring paid actors standing in highly visible places, like televised sporting events, merely standing there, menacingly smiling. After the 2022 film turned its $17 million budget into $217 million worldwide, Smile 2 still saw impressive numbers despite a slight dip, with Finn proving he was a formidable genre force behind the camera.

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