Smile, the latest horror movie from Paramount Pictures, has earned the production company large amounts of money ever since its release in September. Directed by Parker Finn and starring Sosie Bacon, Jessie T. Usher, Kyle Gallner, Robin Weigert, Caitlin Stasey, Kal Penn and Rob Morgan, the film that only cost 17 million dollars to make, has garnered almost 200 million dollars internationally.
Produced by Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner and Robert Salerno, Smile has become one of Paramount’s all-time most profitable horror movies in the global market. It’s also the biggest horror movie of 2022 in 43 countries, including UK, Germany, France, Austria, Spain and Australia.
Prior to its release, Paramount ran a super clever campaign for weeks. They hired people, identified as “smilers,” to appear in public places like the Today Show and Major League Baseball games. The job of the “smilers” was to gaze at the camera, showing off their creepiest smiles, wearing neon t-shirts with “smile” written on them.
The images and videos of the “smilers” instantly went viral on social media platforms. Fans shared and re-shared the visuals with the custom “smile” emoji. As a result, the posts received hundreds of thousands of likes, comments, shares, and coverage in dozens of media outlets like CNN, Entertainment Weekly, Collider, and Sports Illustrated.
President and Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Pictures, Brian Robbins, congratulates his crew and gives a shout out to the marketing team who has had a huge role in the film’s success thanks to their creative efforts, “The spectacular worldwide performance of Smile demonstrates what is truly possible when you deliver a brilliantly sticky marketing campaign on top of a masterfully made high-concept horror film. Thank you to all our creative partners, director Parker Finn, the amazing cast, and our best-in-class production, marketing and distribution teams for creating a communal entertainment experience that movie-loving audiences can only find in the theaters!”