Parker Finn is bringing something that makes horror fans something to Smile about with his happily titled 2022 chiller about a malevolent evil entity that passes from grin to grin. And now the filmmaker is looking to make horror sequel fans smile too with, well, Smile 2.

Looking to go larger and bolder with the series, this time out Finn is improving the game by casting Naomi Scott as pop megastar protagonist Skye Riley, whose international tour gets hugely funked up by a series of sinister smirking faces. Watch the trailer below:

After the pop star personae focus of Smile 2‘s first trailer, this one skews darker and more insular, ramping up the dread as we see how Skye first comes face to leering face with the saga’s teeth-bearing, transmissible entity.

In short, it involves Lukas Gage, a phantom visitor, and some bone-crunching business with a weightlifting plate that gives the term ‘hitting the gym’ a whole new definition. From there, it’s smiles all around for everyone but Skye as her career, mental health, and entire life spirals out of control, forcing the songstress to take extreme action in her quest to track down the origin of her sorrows. With shrill strings, claustrophobic close-ups, and lighting oddballs up the wazoo, it looks like another nightmarish psychological thriller awaits.

Here’s the official synopsis for the irksome sequel: “About to embark on a new world tour, global pop sensation Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) starts experiencing increasingly frightening and unexplainable events. Dominated by the escalating horrors and the pressures of fame, Skye is forced to face her dim past to recover control of her life before it spirals out of control.” Kyle Gallner is set to reprise the role of Joel from Smile, whilst Peter Jacobsen, Rosemary DeWitt, Dylan Gelula, Raul Castillo, and Miles Gutierrez-Riley are all aboard this time out for Finn’s latest round of smiling grimness.

Smile 2 hits cinemas on 18 October.