Distributors forTerrifier 3revealed teenage moviegoers may be buying tickets to a family-friendly movie to sneak into theater showings of the Christmas-themed supernatural slasher film. The third installment focuses on the killer clown, Art the Clown (David Howard Thorton), as he terrorizes anyone who gets in his way, including Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera), whose attempt to rebuild her life is thwarted by him and his new partner and ex-victim, a possessed Victoria Heyes. Despite being unrated, Damien Leone’s threequelopened to $18.9 million at the box office during its debut weekend, charting well pastThe Wild Robot,Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, andJoker: Folie à Deux.
Now, major theater distributors such as AMC, Cinemark, and Regal may have put some reins onTerrifier 3’slead at the box office. According toThe Hollywood Reporter,major theaters have been treatingTerrifier3as an R-rated film and turning away anyone 17 or younger from buying a ticket without a parent or guardian. However, it seems certain young moviegoers have found a way around the theater’s internal security bypurchasing tickets toThe Wild Robotto sneak intoTerrifier 3, as distributors noticed a box office bump for the animated film.
Two distribution sources noted over the weekend that DreamWorks Animation and Universal’s The Wild Robot saw a noticeable bump, and speculate that teenagers and tweens bought tickets to that film and then sneaked into Terrifier 3. The same trend continued on Monday’s Indigenous Peoples Day holiday.
What Lost Ticket Sales Could Mean forTerrifier 3
A Slasher for All
The response toTerrifier 3continues to exceed expectations at the box office, becoming the highest-grossing opening weekend for a horror film this year withJoker: Folie à Deux’sbox office bomb clearing the way for the number one spot. With a 74% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film is well onits way to becoming the top-grossing unrated film of all time domestically— an accomplishment for the horror genre that’s been potentially thwarted by its distributors. This also means the $18.9 million box office opening is just an underestimate of its commercial success.
Terrifier 3 Beating Joker: Folie à Deux At The Box Office Explained: How Art Became The #1 Clown
Terrifier 3 has topped Joker: Folie à Deux. Who would’ve thought that Art would beat the Joker to become the number-one clown at the box office?
Before the pandemic, few theaters rarely booked a title that didn’t have a rating due to strict limits on public advertising, but as seen with theTerrifier 3roll-out, the times have started to change.The film secured a spot at 2,513 cinemas— a greater theatrical release than either of its predecessors. Nonetheless, the film partly assumes the consequences of an R-rating by box office standards due to its excessive gore and violence, which has reportedly prompted walkouts and even vomiting just fromTerrifier 3’s opening scene. Yet, this controversy has likely done more to bring teenagers and tweens to the theater than to keep them out.
Our Take onTerrifier’s 3Box-Office Success
Any Press is Good Press
Leone’s magnum opus has grown from its niche cult following on a small budget into a major franchise with a wide audience appeal.Terrifier 3’s controversial use of violence, which many speculated would hurt the movie at the box office, seems to have garnered an appeal among a younger fan base that would go out of their way to satiate a need for a solid, bloody slasher. Unfortunately forTerrifier 3, the box office numbers may not entirely reflect how many people are actually in the seats.
Terrifier 3
Cast
Terrifier 3 follows Sienna and her brother as they attempt to move past the traumatic events of Art the Clown’s Halloween massacre. As they embrace the Christmas season, Art reemerges, intent on turning their holiday into a nightmare, continuing his reign of terror.
