Damien Leone's Terrifier 3 is on an incredible, blood-splattered run at the box office during the 2024 Spooky Season.
Terrifier 3 is a Christmas-themed slasher following Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) as she rebuilds her life while being pursued by Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) and his new accomplice, a possessed Victoria Heyes (Samantha Scaffidi).
Having released theatrically on October 11, Terrifier 3 has received generally positive reviews from critics. Fans have also shown their support, with a surprisingly sinister run at the box office, though even Thornton, who plays Art the Clown, admitted he couldn’t handle one particularly gross scene.
How Much Has Terrifier 3 Made at the Box Office So Far?
Terrifier 3 has exceeded box office expectations, grossing $41.5 million worldwide just 10 days after its opening. Following its second weekend in theaters, the film has brought in over $36 million domestically and $5.3 million internationally.
Its explosive performance was driven by strong word-of-mouth, including reports of audiences reacting to the extreme gore, which helped generate buzz similar to the success of Terrifier 2.
Opening weekend alone saw Terrifier 3 rake in $18.3 million, surpassing its predecessor's entire box office total.
How Terrifier 3 Can Be Profitable
A general rule of thumb is that a theatrically released film needs to earn double its budget or top its budget to be profitable. For Terrifier 3, which had a modest budget of $2 million, that would mean grossing $4 million or more at the global box office to turn a profit.
However, this doesn't factor in the projected marketing budget, which is estimated at around $500,000, mostly through podcast advertising and smaller-scale campaigns rather than traditional large-scale marketing.
While the promotional costs were relatively low, Terrifier 3 won't need to rely solely on its box office performance. There's a "waterfall" effect to movie earnings, which includes digital sales, Streaming Video on Demand (SVOD), and future TV rights.
During these post-theatrical releases, the studios also benefit from earning a higher percentage of the profit compared to theaters, where revenue is generally split 50/50.
That said, there are numerous ways for Terrifier 3 to end up highly profitable after already earning drastically more than its budget.
Will Terrifier 3 Turn a Profit?
Given Terrifier 3's $2 million budget and its current box office earnings of $41.5 million just 10 days into its release, the film is on track to deliver substantial profits for the studios.
With the potential for continued strong domestic and international performance, as well as future revenue from when Terrifier 3 is expected to release on streaming, it's reasonable to speculate that Terrifier 3 could generate a total gross between $60 to $80 million.
Factoring in its low production and marketing costs, the studios could see profits ranging from $50 to $70 million, making it one of the most financially successful low-budget horror films of recent years.
As the popularity of Art the Clown continues to grow, it's hard to imagine that this would be the end of this F'd up franchise on the big screen.
Terrifier 3 is now playing in theaters.
