When we get into late December and start really reflecting on the last 12 months in the world of film, Damien Leone’s Terrifier 3 will be noted as one of the most significant surprises. The second sequel in the series centering on the sadistic slasher Art The Clown (the third if you count the 2013 anthology All Hallows Eve), the new horror movie didn’t get distribution from a major studio and arrived in theaters without a rating from the MPA, and yet it still managed to win the top spot at the box office earlier this month.
The success shocked a lot of people, and the film has now set a new record: Terrifier 3 is the highest grossing theatrically released movie domestically of all time.
The record was celebrated by writer/director Damien Leone, who posted to his personal Instagram account to celebrate the news. The filmmaker wrote,
Terrifier 3 has slashed its way into the history books, officially becoming the highest grossing unrated film of all time, even surpassing the highest grossing NC-17 films. 🤡🥳✨ Huge congratulations to everyone involved in the making and distribution of the film 👏 #terrifier3
According to Bloody Disgusting (which produced the film), Terrifier 3 has made $55.1 million worldwide so far, and that’s a higher gross than what Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé pulled in during its entire record-setting theatrical run at the end of 2023 (the concert movie made $33 million domestically and $43 million worldwide). The sequel has also far outgrossed its predecessor, 2022’s Terrifier 2, which completed its time on the big screen earning $10.9 million domestically.
The news of Terrifier 3‘s new box office record was not only celebrated by Damien Leone, but also members of the cast. Lauren Lavera (who reprises her Terrifier 2 role as Sienna Shaw), Elliott Fullam (who returns as Jonathan Shaw) and Art The Clown himself, David Howard Thornton, all left comments on the writer/director’s Instagram post, and you can read them below:
While Terrifier and Terrifier 2 are both deeply disturbing, blood soaked nightmares that are set during Halloween, Terrifier 3 changes things up holiday-wise and is set during Christmas. What hasn’t changed, however, is the extreme behavior of the central villain, which has critics celebrating the movie’s gleeful nastiness (CinemaBlend’s Nick Venable gave it a three-and-a-half star review).
If you’re wondering what all of the wild buzz is about, you can check out Terrifier 3 in theaters everywhere right now – and it’s certainly a perfect time given the spookiest of all holidays coming up on Thursday. Should you care to think about it this way, buying a ticket further cements the horror film’s place in the box office history books. You’ll also be helping yourself prepare for the “epic” final chapter of the series that Damien Leone has been recently promising.