Here’s the penciling of it all. Disney/Marvel’s fanboy rejection The Marvels free-fell 78% in its second weekend last November, the biggest drop for an MCU title, after a lackluster $46.1M opening. And as you know Joker: Folie à Deux and its D CinemaScore has been pacing behind Marvels (which received a B CinemaScore) in its opening of $37.6M, and mid-week grosses of $1.8M Monday, and $2.6M Tuesday (by comparison, The Marvels did $2.3M and $3.3M over those two days, respectively).
On the low end, if Joker 2 takes a 70% tumble, that means a $11.2M second weekend, but if it follows Marvels, it would be $8M or lower.
After taking U.S. on 2022’s Terrifier 2 for $250,000, Cineverse reaped a ton of cash off its near $11M domestic take with spoils to boot including a spike in streaming subs for its ScreamBox service. A 2,300-screen theatrical release for Terrifier 3 is planned for this weekend, with previews starting at 8 p.m. Thursday. Cineverse invested less than $5M in Terrifier 3, with less than $1M of that in marketing. How’s that? It only marketed the movie to its Cineverse universe on streaming services, podcasts and Bloody Disgusting.
We’re already hearing about sellouts for shows Thursday into Friday. The question is whether the marketing spend is enough to keep the word of mouth going and bring in more bodies. Iconic Events is handling the distribution of Terrifier 3.
The slasher pic written and directed by Damien Leone follows Art the Clown, who is set to unleash chaos on the unsuspecting residents of Miles County as they peacefully drift off to sleep on Christmas Eve. David Howard Thornton plays Art the Clown, and Lauren LaVera also stars. Thirty-two reviews on Rotten Tomatoes are at 88% for Terrifier 3.
There are a slew of wide releases this weekend, though nothing is expected to do double-digit million-dollar openings. Sony is taking their critically acclaimed (79% certified fresh) film festival darling Saturday Night wide at 2,300 locations for a possible $3.5M-$5M take. The movie’s predominant money has been in Los Angeles and New York City. The $30M Jason Reitman-directed pic about the behind-the-scenes craziness of Saturday Night Live on the eve of its first telecast has grossed $661K through Monday after a platform release that began September 27. Previews are at 2 p.m. Thursday at 2,025 locations.
Focus Features has the Morgan Neville-directed documentary Piece by Piece, about Pharrell Williams and told in LEGO form, which could see $3M-$5M+ as well at 1,851 sites. The movie cost $16M before P&A. Universal took the world on it. The ultimate comp at the end of the day are documentaries that final in the mid-teens, like RBG with $14M. Pharrell is a big part of the NBCUniversal universe having been a judge on NBC’s The Voice, plus he has his next live-action feature, the Michel Gondry musical feature Atlantis, set for May 9, 2025 at big Uni. That movie is based on Williams’ childhood at the Virginia Beach Atlantis Apartments during the summer of 1977. As for Piece by Piece, reviews start at 2 p.m. Thursday and RT reviews are 91% fresh.
There’s also Briarcliff Entertainment’s U.S. acquisition of the Donald Trump biopic, The Apprentice starring Sebastian Stan as the young real estate baron, Jeremy Strong as his notorious mentor as Roy Cohn and Oscar nominee Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump. Pic is booked at 1,740 locations and only expected to do in the low single digits after all the headlines for the Ali Abbasi-directed including the Trump campaign threatening legal action during the pic’s Cannes Film Festival premiere. Reviews are 79% fresh on RT. Previews start at 4 p.m. tomorrow.
The shock horror movie Terrifier 3 opens domestically this week after rattling U.K. audiences at its premiere.
Terrifier 3, of course, is the third film in writer-director Damien Leone’s Terrifier horror film series that kicked off in 2016. Terrifier 2 was released in 2022.
Starring David Howard Thornton as the film series’ murderous madman Art the Clown, Terrifier 3, per the film’s U.K. distributor Signature Entertainment, had 11 audience members hitting the exits early at the film’s premiere inthe UK last week. France’s Film Classification Committee also slapped a strict audience rating on Terrifier 3 that bans audience members under the age of 18 from seeing the film in the theaters.
Signature Entertainment posted a sign outside of the premiere screening that warned audiences of Terrifier 3’s “excessive violence and excessive gore.”
The distributor added a post to its X account Wednesday that showed audiences reaction to scenes from the Terrifier UK premiere.
Terrifier 3 is set during Christmastime. The film’s official logline reads, “After surviving Art the Clown's Halloween massacre, Sienna (Lauren LeVera) and her brother are struggling to rebuild their shattered lives. As the holiday season approaches, they try to embrace the Christmas spirit and leave the horrors of the past behind.
“But just when they think they're safe, Art the Clown returns, determined to turn their holiday cheer into a new nightmare. The festive season quickly unravels as Art unleashes his twisted brand of terror, proving that no holiday is safe.”
As of Wednesday, Rotten Tomatoes critics are widely embracing Terrifier 3, giving the film an 82% “fresh” rating based on 39 reviews.
While still a healthy rating, the RT Tomatometer rating for Terrifier 3 dropped six percentage points from a week ago, where 16 critics who screened the movie during different film festivals collectively gave it an 88% “fresh” rating.
Among the individual reviews from RT Critics, IndieWire critic Alison Foreman writes, “Terrifier 3 is decking the halls with a triumphant celebration that’s horrifying for all the right reasons and snaps into focus what it is that [Damien] Leone does singularly well. That may or may not win people over, but it shouldn’t lose any repeat customers.”
Kim Newman of Empire Magazine also gives Terrifier 3 a “fresh” review, but it comes with a warning: Managing to go further over-the-top and pushing more offense buttons than you think possible, this is recommended only for the strong of stomach and hard of heart.”
Ian Sandwell also has a “fresh” take on the movie, writing in his review for Digital Spy, “Terrifier 3 is the strongest outing for Art the Clown yet and possibly the most offensive, which, for a Terrifier movie, is a seal of approval. Merry bloody Christmas.”
Collider’s Russ Bonaime is among the film’s few detractors on RT so far, writing in his “rotten” review, “The budget might have ballooned to ten times what Terrifier had, and the kills have gotten far more gruesome, yet Terrifier 3 is still the same mixed bag that this franchise has always been.”
No matter if Terrifier 3’s RT’s Tomatometer continues to fall or possibly rise again as more reviews are posted, the film is poised to make a killing—so to speak—at this weekend’s box office.
The Hollywood Reporter noted in a recent interview feature with Damien Leone that Terrifier 3 had a $2 million budget before prints and advertising. By comparison, Terrifier 2, THR noted, made $15.8 million in 2022 against a $250,000 budget before P&A.
Terrifier 3, which is unrated, opens in theaters domestically on Friday. Per Gold Derby, Terrifier 3 will open in 2,500 theaters in the U.S. and Canada.
A new film comes out on French screens today and it’s causing a bit of a stir.
Terrifier 3, the third film in the horror-slasher-platter series, has been issued a rare ban in France – the first of its kind since 2006.
What makes this even more impressive is that films released in France don’t have to go through as much red tape compared to the UK, for instance. The BBFC (the British Board of Film Classification) issues some of the most precise – some might say illiberal – classification systems in Europe when it comes to film ratings, with six ratings.
Comparatively, France usually goes for two (12 and 16 ratings), knowing that things need to get pretty intense for a 16 classification. One of the last ones to get that rating was Julia Ducournau’s mind-meltingly brilliant Palme d’Or winner Titane.
But now, France’s film classification committee has ruled that Terrifier 3 be stamped with an “under-18 ban”. The last film to get that restrictive ruling was 2006’s Saw III - another third instalment in a horror franchise.
For those who aren’t familiar with the Terrifier series, it’s the sick brainchild of Damien Leone, which focuses on Art the Clown, a demonic serial killer who slices and dices on Halloween (2016’s Terrifier), resurrects and gets stabby once more on Halloween (2022’s Terrifier 2), and now has his infernal eyes set on ruining Christmas (this year’s Terrifier 3).
Still, they’re not very good.
Fine, Terrifier 2 was actually a step up from the original. It’s a relentless gorefest, a subtext-free genre film that offers some creative kills and little else. If you’re into that sort of thing, it’s a bloody good time. If you prefer your horror with a bit more nuance, it serves no purpose other than to shock.
That’s as charitable as we get.
So, unless you’re 18 or over, young French gorehounds will have to get their fix elsewhere. And film’s French distributors aren’t happy about it.
Factoris Films, Shadowz Films and ESC Editions released a joint statement (via Bloody Disgusting): “We can only deplore this unexpected final decision, which will severely hamper the release of the film, eagerly awaited by tens of thousands of French viewers and scheduled for October 9 (and of course maintained).”
They go on to say that the film’s violence is “grand-guignolistic and unrealistic” and argued that “viewers will have all the distance and maturity they need to understand and appreciate this artistic approach”.
“In addition, for over 2 years now, we’ve been working daily and tirelessly to defend free, creative and radical genre cinema, systematically acclaimed by the press and audiences alike,’ the statement continued.
“The audience for these films, even if they are teenagers, are cinephiles who are passionate and respectful of the films and the cinemas that show them… We remind you that four of our recent releases, including Terrifier 2, were forbidden to minors under 16, and none of them caused the slightest outburst in cinemas.”
Fair, even if there were reports of people passing out and throwing up during Terrifier 2 and patrons walking out of the UK premiere of Terrifier 3 last week – but those so-called reports are often trotted out by distributors to boost interest in their film. The same buzz-craving reports came out for the release of Titane and during the premiere in Cannes of this year’s fantastic The Substance (both far, far superior films in case clarification was needed), and no one was carted out of those screenings...
Granted, exceptional ratings can be a death knell for distributors fearing a negative impact on box office numbers. However, they can also boost interest. And let’s be real: no one can be that surprised that an extreme horror film like Terrifier 3 gets slapped with a special classification.
The only thing that does surprise is that it comes from France, a country which birthed the transgressive New French Extremity movement with titles like Sheitan, Martyrs and Inside. It takes a lot for the French to get squeamish.
Maybe the sanctity of Christmas is what did it...
Does a Terrifier film deserve the added hype brought about by this decision? And will you be watching Terrifier 3?
Terrifier 3 is out now in French cinemas and comes out on Friday in the UK and US.
Additional sources • Bloody Disgusting
