Arthouse box office clown, Art the Clown, is returning for Terrifier 3

Given its subject matter, most analysts probably weren’t expecting Terrifier 2 to be the box office savior of fall 2022. But after pulling in $15 million on a $250,000 budget, the bloody clown movie showed what horror fans have long known: You don’t need a lot of money to make a popular horror movie. The most terrifying thing about a successful Terrifier? The inevitable Terrifier 3.

Art the Clown will return in Terrifier 3, according to Deadline. The movie, which will likely begin filming for a 2024 release later this year, will reunite stars David Howard Thornton and Lauren LaVera (Sienna) with writer/director Damien Leone and producer Phil Falcone. The production may even receive a budget north of $1 million. God only knows how much blood Leone can pump into his movie with a decent budget.

“Terrifier 3 will be another boundary-pushing addition to the horror genre, continuing the no holds barred, uncompromising exploits fans of the franchise have come to expect and celebrate,” said Leone. “ If you thought Art the Clown’s reign of terror in part 2 was extreme, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

Terrifier was one of several reminders last year that $200 million tentpole superhero movies aren’t the only way to make money in Hollywood. Several horror hits, including Smile, Barbarian, Skinamarink, Scream VI, Nope, X, and Pearl, scared the box office straight in the past year, providing audiences with an array of artful, funny, and, yes, terrifying reasons to go to the movies. What can we say? People like to scream at the movies.

Hey, as long as there’s a scene where Art takes us to his miniature haberdasher to reveal the origins of his cute little hat, the movie will bring in that coveted boffo B.O.