‘Smile 3’ Finds a New Director as Parker Finn Heads Into Stranger Territory

Horror franchises tend to live or die on how well they hand the baton from one filmmaker to the next. Few series make that more complicated than ‘Smile,’ a franchise built on a single, very specific kind of dread: the grin that shouldn’t be there. ‘Smile 2’ pulled in around $140 million worldwide on a $30 million budget, which is more than enough reason for a studio to keep the curse spreading.

Creator Parker Finn wrote and directed both of the films so far. The sequel unleashed the curse on pop star Skye Riley, played by Naomi Scott, and it left plenty of fans wondering where the series could go next. That question got louder once reports started suggesting Finn might not be the one steering the answer.

Now Variety has the exclusive that settles it. The outlet reports that Paramount has hired David Bruckner to direct ‘Smile 3,’ with Nick Antosca writing the screenplay. Finn is not abandoning the series entirely, though, as he will stay on as a producer with Temple Hill Entertainment.

The move has been rumbling for a while. Dread Central noted that it reported back in March that a third film was in development and that Finn was unlikely to return to the director’s chair. Variety’s exclusive turns that chatter into a confirmed hire, and the choice of filmmaker may be the most intriguing part.

Bruckner arrives with serious genre credentials. He got his start on horror anthology films like ‘V/H/S’ and ‘Southbound,’ along with the 2007 Sundance film ‘The Signal’. His more recent work includes ‘The Night House,’ released by Searchlight in 2021, and a reimagining of Clive Barker’s ‘Hellraiser’ that landed on Hulu in 2022.

He also has a busy slate waiting. Bruckner’s other projects include a remake of ‘The Blob’ for Warner Bros. and an adaptation of the Marcus Kleiwer novel ‘The Caretaker,’ starring Sydney Sweeney, for Universal. Adding ‘Smile 3’ to that list suggests Paramount wants a filmmaker with a proven feel for slow-burn unease.

Details about the story itself are still under wraps. Plot and casting information for the third film has not been revealed, and the first two movies each followed a different lead character. That structure gives Bruckner room to introduce a fresh victim without being tied to what came before.

So why is Finn stepping aside? The answer is one of the more eyebrow-raising projects in recent horror news. Finn is set to direct a remake of the 1981 cult horror film ‘Possession,’ starring Callum Turner and Margaret Qualley, which Paramount will release through a first-look deal in June 2027.

That remake has been generating buzz since it was first announced. The Hollywood Reporter reported that Finn’s pitch attracted interest from A24, Netflix, Paramount and Warner Bros., with executives calling his idea ‘batshit’ yet commercial. For a filmmaker who made his name on a single killer concept, that is a considerable leap.

It is also a daunting one. Andrzej Żuławski’s original was a critical failure in 1981 and remains so individual that it is hard to imagine what would survive a remake. Finn has clearly decided that is a challenge worth chasing.

For ‘Smile’ fans, the split could end up working out nicely for everyone involved. Finn gets to swing at a deeply strange cult classic, while Bruckner gets a ready-made nightmare engine to play with. Whether that new grin looks familiar or entirely different is the question hanging over the franchise now.