Paramount is hoping to bring smiles to audiences’ faces for Halloween season 2024. The studio has set a release date for its untitled sequel to the surprise horror hit Smile of Oct. 18, 2024.
The studio also set a date for the musical adaptation of Mean Girls, which will bow on Jan. 12, 2024. It previously was intended for Paramount+ but has been moved to theatrical. The film stars Angourie Rice, Auli’i Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey and Reneé Rapp. Mean Girls was initially a 2004 film starring Lindsay Lohan, and became a Broadway musical, which in turn has inspired this new take.
Meanwhile, the animated Tiger’s Apprentice was initially intended for theaters but will now bow on Paramount+. The film voice stars Henry Golding, Sandra Oh and Michelle Yeoh in the adaptation of the children’s book.
The studio also pushed back Bob Marley: One Love one month to Feb. 14, 2024. The feature stars Kingsley Ben-Adir as the late music icon.
Smile was considered one of the most profitable movies of 2022, earning $216 million globally on a $17 million budget. It launched filmmaker Parker Finn as a director to watch. In its wake, he signed a first-look deal with Paramount. Initially intended for streaming, the project was upgraded to theatrical after a successful test screening.
“The audience was screaming at the screen, so it was very clear that the communal environment and nature of it was incredible,” Finn told The Hollywood Reporter in December. “And to Paramount’s credit, they recognized that, and they got behind the film in such an amazing way.”
