Terrifier 3 will receive a wide theatrical release in the fall of 2024

A couple weeks ago, we heard that writer/director Damien Leone’s demonic clown film Terrifier 3 will have a budget somewhere “in the low-mid seven figure range” – an amount substantially higher than the $35,000 budget of the first Terrifier and the $250,000 Leone had to work with on Terrifier 2. Now Variety has learned that Cineverse Corp. has acquired the North American distribution rights to Terrifier 3 and will be giving the film a wide theatrical release sometime in the fall of 2024. Following the theatrical release, Terrifier 3 will be on the Cineverse streaming service Screambox.

Cineverse chairman and CEO Chris McGurk provided the following statement: “(Terrifier 2) achieved revenues of roughly 60 times the production cost and was powered almost exclusively by social marketing. We are thrilled that Damien and Phil have chosen to stay true to the franchise and keep the film uncut and independent vs. going the studio route. We aim to make this film the centerpiece of our releasing strategy which is focused on creator-friendly collaboration to generate fan-favorite franchises and remakes that work theatrically and drive streaming subscription revenues. This time, we are planning a wide theatrical release for Terrifier 3 as we are confident that the film will deliver yet another unparalleled horror experience. We eagerly anticipate the creative vision that Damien and Phil will unleash upon audiences when we bring Terrifier 3 to the big screen in the fall of 2024.“

Speaking with Variety, Leone said that Terrifier 3 will “shift back a bit to the tone of Part One, which I felt was a little more simplistic and old school, gritty slasher. I want this one to go back in that direction, and I want this to be the scariest one of the trilogy. This one will actually have a little bit more of an evil overtone to it, so this is going to be hopefully the scariest and the darkest. I want it to feel as if the audience coming into this one isn’t as comfortable with Art the Clown as they feel they are now. I want to see if I can make them really scared of him again.” When asked if he has received constructive criticism on Terrifier 2 that he’s keeping in mind for the next sequel, he replied, “I wanted Part Two to have a Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors vibe to it. That was my tone in the back of my head and I knew I was really going to embrace this supernatural and fantasy element. I also knew I was going to alienate a handful of fans going that route. I personally love it. There’s a lot of people who didn’t love the fantasy, or at least they need more explanation as to why that’s all happening. I didn’t want to explain everything in Part Two, so I am going to explain as we go. But the biggest mistake I could do now is double-down on that fantasy aspect. That’s why I want to course-correct a bit; let’s go back to Nightmare on Elm Street Part One, as opposed to going further into Dream Warriors. That could be very helpful criticism and help me make a better movie moving forward. But we’ll see.“

To read more from Leone, click over to the Variety article.

I’m very glad to hear that Leone is going back to the tone of the first Terrifier. I was a fan of that one, but didn’t like Terrifier 2 much at all – mainly because I was one of those viewers “who didn’t love the fantasy, or at least need more explanation as to why that’s all happening.”

What do you think of Leone’s comments? Are you looking forward to Terrifier 3? Let us know by leaving a comment below.