Horror Sensation Smile Scares Up Over $200 Million at the Global Box Office
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Paramount Pictures Sosie Bacon in Smile
Horror fans have a reason to smile.
Smile, which is written-directed by Parker Finn and stars Sosie Bacon, has raked in an impressive $202 million plus at the worldwide box office since its opening on Sept. 30.
"After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can't explain," reads an official synopsis for the film.
"As an overwhelming terror begins taking over her life, Rose must confront her troubling past in order to survive and escape her horrifying new reality," the synopsis adds.
Smile also stars Kyle Gallner, Caitlin Stasey, Jessie T. Usher, Rob Morgan, Kal Penn and Robin Weigert.
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Paramount Pictures Caitlin Stasey in Smile
Finn, who makes his directorial debut with Smile, chatted with Entertainment Weekly back in September about Paramount Pictures placing performers at baseball games and instructing them to smile as widely as they could, to promote the film.
The stunt went viral, with Finn telling EW of the studio's "clever" marketing, "This is something that had been discussed a little while back and we were all kind of like crossing our fingers that somebody might notice."
Of the film itself, Finn told the outlet, "I wanted to set out to make something that was deeply frightening and feels like a sustained panic attack from start to finish."
"We're working with really heady themes and motifs and pairing them with these extraordinary circumstances," the director continued. "I really wanted to ground the story, the drama side of things, so [the audience] can really care about the character and go with her on that journey when it all really really starts to ramp up."
The film debuted at No. 1 at the domestic box office during its opening weekend, bringing in more than $22 million between Sept. 30 and Oct. 2.
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Sosie, 30, is the daughter of actors Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon — the latter of whom also had a horror movie out this year, the Peacock Original They/Them.
The Golden Globe winner, 64, opened up to The Hollywood Reporter last month about what it was like to see Sosie in Smile — and, as he explained, it's a family thing.
"When she got this part, even knowing how hard she had worked, and knowing she was good, when I saw the movie I was just really taken aback not only with how great she was but also how hard that role was, because it's one of those parts where there is no break," Kevin shared.
He added of their shared genre experience, "In a weird kind of way, we have a horror tradition in our family. One of my earliest movies was the very first Friday the 13th. I was in Stir of Echoes and Hollow Man. Flatliners. I keep going back to horror."
Smile is in theaters now.
