'Terrifier 3' Tops $50M - An Unprecedented Box Office Success And Another Testament to Value of Theaters

When it comes to marquee character-driven breakout sequels, Art the Clown compares only to Keanu Reeves' John Wick and Sean Connery's James Bond.

With a nice little Halloween weekend boost, Cineverse’s Terrifier 3 nabbed $3.3 million for a mere 32% drop, bringing its domestic cume to $50.5 million in 24 days of domestic release. Beyond the monetary milestone, it has passed the inflation-adjusted gross ($20 million in 1995) of the NC-17 Showgirls, earning another notch on its “too hardcore for R” box office trophy case. It is now the biggest-grossing film in raw domestic earnings for any unrated, R-rated or NC-17-rated film. Yes, it’s still behind the $67 million worldwide cume of Ang Lee’s erotic melodrama Lust, Caution, but give it time. And while it will probably require a Christmas rerelease to get there, the $2 million slasher threequel will eventually pass the $59 million domestic total of Joker: Folie a Deux.  

A thriving theatrical industry, if you can keep it.

This is another “theatrical is as alive as the distribution industry will allow it to be” moment amid the last few years, with another record, benchmark or milestone that would have been equally absurd or unlikely in pre-COVID or pre-streaming times. Moreover, it affirms the pop culture value of even a modest theatrical success. If, for example, The Substance ($15 million domestic and $40 million worldwide) goes straight to streaming, we don’t see folks dressed like Margaret Qualley’s Sue for Halloween this past week. And if Damien Leone’s Terrifier remains a streaming or VOD-specific franchise, Art the Clown and friends (including “final girl” Lauren LaVera) don’t show up at Nasdaq on Halloween night to ring the closing bell.  In terms of sequel-to-sequel increases, we’re now firmly in John Wick territory.