‘Smile 2’ Takes Horror Franchise Past Major Global Box Office Milestone

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Now firmly among the year’s top-grossing horror movies — and one of the rare studio horror films to have succeeded this year — Paramount’s Smile 2hasn’t dropped out of the top 10 at the domestic box office even once in its five-week run. This is an impressive feat; the movie has, after all, been playing in theaters for a while, and has been available to watch at home for about a week now. Smile 2 grossed just over $1 million domestically this weekend, and is currently being shown in less than 1,000 theaters nationwide, which means that it’ll probably end its theatrical run with around $70 million in the bank domestically.

Smile 2 has so far grossed $67 million in domestic theaters, and another $68 million from overseas markets, for a cumulative global haul of $135 million. Produced on a budget of under $30 million, the movie fell way short of its blockbuster predecessor. Both films have been directed by Parker Finn, and more remarkably, have earned excellent reviews. Not many horror movies can boast about this. In fact, with an 86% rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Smile 2 is a better-reviewed film than the first Smile, which holds a 79% rating.

Both films have also earned solid reactions from audiences. While the first Smile has a 77% audience score on RT, Smile 2 has an 81% score. The original Smile was destined for a direct-to-streaming release, but Paramount reconsidered its decision after it received positive test scores. The studio put its back into giving the film a proper theatrical push and unleashed an impressive viral marketing campaign that it replicated for the sequel. Smile concluded its theatrical run with over $100 million domestically and more than $215 million worldwide. Combined, the two films have now grossed over $350 million worldwide.

‘Smile 2’ Is Among the 25 Highest-Grossing Films at the Domestic Box Office This Year

Smile 2 joins fellow Paramount release A Quiet Place: Day One and 20th Century Studios’ Alien: Romulus in the rather exclusive list of this year’s studio horror hits. The outlier in the top three is Neon’s Longlegs, which grossed nearly $75 million in its domestic run. Starring Naomi Scott in the lead role, Smile 2 also features Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage, and the returning Kyle Gallner. The movie is now available to watch at home. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.