Is This Pop Concert Video Viral Marketing for Horror Sequel ‘Smile 2’?

Is This Pop Concert Video Viral Marketing for Horror Sequel ‘Smile 2’?

by Alex Billington
June 14, 2024
Source: YouTube

“Disaster waiting to happen, like blood on white satin.” Its been a while since we’ve had a really good viral marketing campaign to follow. Looks like a new one just kicked off this week. Some horror fans have noticed there is a promotion for a pop star named Skye Riley, revealing her new single titled “Blood On White Satin” featuring 30 seconds of footage of her walking up on stage during a Taylor Swift-esque concert. It just so happens that actress Naomi Scott plays a character named Skye Riley in the sequel Smile 2, the follow-up to Park Finn’s horror hit from 2022. Smile 2 is already scheduled for release in October later this year, and the song is supposed to drop on June 18th – next week. Which likely means this is to announce the first official trailer for Smile 2 arriving next week on June 18th. No plot details are known, it’s all a big secret, but wouldn’t it be totally crazy if the bigger & wilder plot of Smile 2 involved a pop star passing along the smile curse?! Yeah that’s some scary sh*t right there. Her song includes some very horror-esque lyrics: “blood on white satin,” “devastation right in front of me”, + “am I a future disaster just waiting to happen?”

Here’s the viral video for Skye Riley’s song “Blood On White Satin“, direct from Interscope’s YouTube:

When asked back in 2022 about making a sequel, Parker Finn said it would be very different from the first Smile gave this tease: “There is still a lot of interesting stuff to explore in the world of Smile. … I’d want to make sure that there’s a new, exciting, fresh way into it that the audience isn’t anticipating. I also want to find some new ways to scare them and unnerve them.” Let’s dance. Seems like bringing horror to pop star concerts is a major trend this year – with both M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap and Smile 2 set to thrill us soon.

Thanks to Bloody Disgusting for the tip on this news with more info. The YouTube video just points to the official website for Skye Riley, which lists the song as releasing on June 18th. There are also more photos + videos posted on her official IG account @skyerileynation. A clever tactic to promote this song over the film.

Plot still under wraps. Smile 2, also known as Smile Deluxe, is once again written and directed by American genre filmmaker Parker Finn, making his second feature film after directing the first Smile (2022), and a few other short films (including Laura Hasn’t Slept which these Smiles movies are based on). Produced by Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner, and Robert Salerno. It’s made by Temple Hill Ent. Paramount Pictures will debut Finn’s Smile 2 in theaters nationwide starting October 18th, 2024 this fall. The first Smile movie opened in theaters in September 2022, earning an impressive $106M at the US box office. Stay tuned for more updates on Smile 2 – follow on Twitter @smilemovie. Who’s interested? What do you think?

Find more posts: Horror, Hype, To Watch, Viral Marketing