There’s good news for several films at the box office this weekend, starting with Paramount’s “Smile 2,” which despite competition from the gory indie darling “Terrifier 3” is set to match the opening weekend of its predecessor with a $23 million launch from 3,619 theaters after earning $9.4 million on Friday, including $2.5 million from Thursday previews.
Two years ago, “Smile” earned a $22.6 million opening in September, going on to gross $109.5 million domestic and $217.4 million worldwide against a $17 million production budget. “Smile 2,” which stars Naomi Scott as a pop star doomed by a fatal curse, only has a slightly higher budget at $28 million and has earned positive reception with a B on CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 84% critics and 86% audience.