Smile blew audiences away in 2022 when the creepy horror film introduced us to a new threat- a fatal curse that brings a terrifying upside-down frown to your face. But the frightening looks take on a new level of disturbing in the next chapter, Smile 2, when a pop singer gets her share of scary stares and other disturbing events ahead of her tour. Outside of the upcoming horror film, MTV’s VMA viewers got a glimpse of their own Smile curse seeing a woman’s creepy look during LL Cool J’s performance and I’d like to believe it’s a marketing campaign for the new sequel… right?
Based on the gnarly looks and deaths the Smile 2 trailer showed us, it looks like the stakes are going to be ramped up this time around as the curse follows a pop star as she’s about to go on tour. As freaked out as you must have been watching the trailer, you just need to tell yourself it’s only a movie. It is only a movie… isn’t it? An X video posted by a fan showed the curse may have come to MTV’s VMAs and allow me to be scared with you:
Just when it looks like an everyday VMA performance of LL Cool J performing his medley for a thrilled crowd, we see one woman among the pack giving a very creepy look directly at the camera. Does that mean we’re all going to get the curse if we look right back at her? I’d like to believe that all of this is a marketing stunt to promote Smile 2. Yeah, let’s go with that.
The first Smile movie pulled off an impressive marketing campaign that won an award at the 15th Annual Shortys, as well as a bronze for Event and Experiential. Actors hired by Paramount Pictures and TriplePlay Studios were sent to public televised broadcasts with large audiences like MLB and NFL games, as well as morning shows. Just like at the VMAs, actors would find moments when the camera turns to the audience only to stare directly at the camera and deliver a look that kills. Through this killer campaign, audiences would gain awareness of the psychological horror film, as well as engage on social media what they witnessed on TV. The more viral attention, the more curiosity will rise about the bizarre horror film.
Smile’s marketing campaign sure did the trick the first time around. The supernatural horror film boosted the spooky season at the box office, debuting at $22.6 million. The movie also had a brilliant second weekend at $18.5 million and stayed at the top of the box office. The luck continued with it making $99 million domestically and achieving a box office milestone of being one out of 15 titles to reach nine figures in 2022. It was also the highest-grossing R-rated movie worldwide during the pandemic. It proves that viral marketing campaigns like Smile’s did a great job freaking out audiences enough on TV events to experience similar thrills for a big-screen experience.
Considering the first Smile movie’s creepy marketing campaign helped bring fans into theaters to see the eerie horror film, it looks like the Smile sequel is trying to pull the same thing at MTV’s VMAs. An audience member scarily looking at the camera during the awards show may just be the start of many scary looks that’ll show up on our TV screens before the 2024 movie release hits theaters on October 18th.