The unexpected horror hit Terrifier 3 has wowed at the global box office, as it reportedly paves the way to becoming the highest-grossing unrated film of all time in the US.
The shockingly gory movie follows the homicidal Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) who goes on a rampage just in time for the festive season.
Its vomit-inducing nature has already caused a stir after France slapped on a rare ‘under-18s’ ban and 10 people walked out of the UK premiere.
Despite the early horrified reaction, it certainly hasn’t deterred the public from showing up to movie theatres in droves as it surpassed the $25million (£19million) mark.
Combined with the additional global gross, it’s already at a comfortable $28million (£21million) just a week after opening. This is 14 times the two million dollar (£1.5million) budget.
What’s more, on its opening weekend (October 11 – 13) Terrifier 3 not only produced a whopping $18million (£13million) but also dethroned one of the most highly-anticipated (and widely-panned) sequels this year, Joker: Folie a Deux, to nab the top spot in the US.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, if the strong figures hold, with some estimates projecting a $60million (£45million) forecast, it could reach that goal ofbecoming the highest-grossing unrated movie to hit the US market.
Director Damien Leone is pushing for this outcome, writing on Instagram: ‘Can Terrifier 3 make history as the highest “grossing” unrated film of all time?’ Who hasn’t seen Terrifier 3 yet?’ as fans showered praise on its achievements so far.
The entire situation is made all the more impressive by the fact that Chris McGurk, CEO of Terrifier 3’s distributor, confirmed they only spent $500k (£383k) on actually marketing the film.
Yet its popularity is unlike anything he has seen across the maybe 500 films he has worked on during his career.
‘I’ve never had a movie where the actual out-of-pocket marketing spend to box office has been this ratio. It’s just off the charts,’ he said
Compared to other movies from the same genre that came out this year, this indie hit is giving them a run for their money. It has already broken into the top 10 and is looking to soon overtake Abigail and Blumhouse’s Imaginary in the US.
There’s a world in which it might even pip James McAvoy’s Speak No Evil to the post although the remainder of the list is made up of higher-budget blockbusters such as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, A Quiet Place: Day One and Longlegs.
Even in France (despite the unexpected ban and limited screenings) it still enjoyed a strong opening, selling an estimated £1.45million worth of tickets across cinemas, per ScreenDaily.
The French distributor, Bloody Disgusting, slammed the ban decision.
‘Terrifier 3 is a film d’auteur in the purest tradition of the slasher genre, with perfectly “grand-guignolesque” and unrealistic violence,’ they said in a statement.
‘The film never takes itself too seriously, and we know that viewers will have the necessary distance and maturity to understand and appreciate this artistic approach.’
Although another cinema exec admitted that it could have ‘contributed to the film’s explosive start in France.’
And fans, who has dubbed it the ‘most extreme’ film they have seen in a while, are loving its success.
‘I love that Terrifier 3 has made more in one weekend than Terrifier 2 did overall and turned a huge profit compared to its budget. You just know that a bunch of Hollywood folks are likely regretting not backing it and will come a-knocking for the next sequel,’ @groundhogjay wrote.
‘I know it would never happen but #Terrifier3 deserves awards… It broke through into the mainstream purely by word of mouth and did better than a lot of big budget movies did this year. Without big actors or actresses. And without a rating. Give this film it’s flowers,’ @bigkev614 echoed.
All this to say, the Terrifier franchise is going from strength-to-strength in an unprecedented way. Art’s character first appeared in Damien’s 2008 short film 9th Circle which only had a budget of $3,000.
The first feature-length movie came out, Terrifier, came out in 2016 with a $38k (£29k) budget followed by 2022’s Terrifier 2 which boasted $250k (£191,000) in the pot.
The threequel was left on a cliffhanger, and although a fourth movie is yet to be officially confirmed – we wouldn’t be surprised.