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You Can Now Watch the “Smile 2” Opening Scene, but Only If You Record Yourself Smiling into the Camera
‘Smile’ enthusiasts must grin into their phone or laptop camera in order to watch the first seven minutes of ‘Smile 2,’ which is now in theaters
Smile 2 scared its way into theaters nearly three weeks ago, but fans of the movie — or the Smile curious — can now watch the film’s first seven minutes online.
Paramount Pictures recently published the opening minutes of the movie on a website for anyone over 18 to watch, so long as they smile into their phone or laptop camera for those entire seven minutes. The video pauses if the technology used senses that the viewer has stopped smiling, forcing interested audience members into participating in the horror franchise’s signature facial expression in order to see the film’s first scene.
When audience members stop smiling, the screen flashes red and eventually turns black, at which point a message appears on-screen: “Keep Smiling.”
Related: Yes, That’s Jack Nicholson’s Son Ray Channeling His Dad’s Creepy Grin in Smile 2
Smile 2 is a sequel to the 2022 horror hit Smile. The movies feature a demon that torments characters by making them see people around them wearing horrifying smiles on their faces.
The new movie stars Naomi Scott as a pop star named Skye Riley, who “begins experiencing increasingly terrifying and inexplicable events” as she embarks on a world tour, according to an official synopsis from Paramount Pictures. Lukas Gage, Rosemarie DeWitt, Dylan Gelula, Ray Nicholson and Raúl Castillo also costar, with Kyle Gallner as the first movie’s lone character to appear in the sequel.
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The Smile movies stem from an original concept created by writer-director Parker Finn, who has already teased potential for a third installment down the road. Smile and Smile 2 are Finn’s first two movies as a director and writer; he originated the concept with a 2020 short film titled Laura Hasn’t Slept.
Related: Creepy Smiling People Spook Major League Baseball Fans Ahead of Horror Sequel Smile 2‘s Release
“There are some ideas that I think are very exciting,” Finn told SFX magazine of the series’ potential future in September.
He added, “I think it’s really fun to imagine a lineage of Smile movies where each one becomes more off the rails than the previous one. What’s really interesting about Smile is that you can find yourself in different stories, different characters, different worlds.”
Smile 2 is in theaters now.