‘Terrifier 3’ Might Become the No. 1 Film at the Box Office This Weekend

Here’s a box office headline not a lot of people expected at the start of 2024: “Terrifier 3,” the latest installment in Damien Leone’s saga of mutilation, could be the No. 1 film in America this weekend.

With Warner Bros.’ “Joker: Folie a Deux” likely headed for theatrical collapse with a second weekend of $10 million or less, that leaves the door open for another film to take the top spot. Universal/DreamWorks’ “The Wild Robot” could retake No. 1 thanks to its strong buzz, having only dropped 48% from its $35 million opening weekend with $19 million.

“Last weekend, ‘The Wild Robot’ saw an inflated drop because it lost a lot of premium formats, but the awesome word of mouth is carrying through,” said Fandango’s director of analytics Shawn Robbins. “Also, there will be a lot of kids who are off on Monday, so that should help with turnout on Sunday.”

Or it could be “Terrifier 3” which is projected for an $11 million opening from 2,500+ locations. That would top the entire $10.6 million domestic run of “Terrifier 2” in 2022, which in turn beat the domestic runs of Best Picture Oscar nominees “Tár,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” and “Triangle of Sadness” that year. Cineverse, the parent company of multimedia horror outlet Bloody Disgusting, produced the film with Iconic Events handling distribution.

As a slasher film that has made a name for itself pushing the boundaries of cinematic ultraviolence, there’s a hard ceiling on how much a film like “Terrifier” can make. Then again, Leone and his team have turned Art the Clown into a rising horror icon on a shoestring budget. The first “Terrifier” was made on a paltry $35,000 budget in 2016. The sequel was made on a $250,000 budget, and now the Christmas-themed “Terrifier 3” has seen the price tag balloon to an enormous…$2 million.

For a film like “Terrifier 3” to even be in the conversation of a $10 million-plus opening weekend is a credit to how Leone and Bloody Disgusting have cultivated a fanbase among hardcore horror fans by selling the film as the cinematic equivalent of taking a bite out of a Pepper X.

Mention the “bedroom scene” to a slasher devotee, and they will likely know exactly what “Terrifier 2” scene you’re talking about. The threequel has become a can’t-miss Halloween title to millions of fans eager to see what twisted new ways Art can inflict violence on his victims — and to test how much gore they can stand without covering their eyes.

Not everyone looking for Halloween frights will find “Terrifier 3” to their liking. The more conventionally gory — for lack of a better term — “Smile 2” will be released by Paramount next weekend and could keep this indie film’s performance largely confined to just a single week. But that week will be enough to make “Terrifier 3” theatrically profitable, and depending on whether “The Wild Robot” can keep its third weekend hold below 35%, could give Leone and Bloody Disgusting their first No. 1.

Elsewhere, Sony/Columbia’s “Saturday Night” is hitting 2,300 theaters this weekend, but isn’t likely to leave much of an impact with a projected $3-4 million opening. Directed and co-written by Jason Reitman on a reported $30 million budget, the film recounts the shooting of the first ever “Saturday Night Live” episode in 1975. It has received generally positive reviews with a 78% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Specialty releases include Focus Features’ “Piece By Piece,” Morgan Neville’s documentary about the life and career of Pharrell Williams told through Lego stop-motion animation. It’s projected for a $3-5 million opening from 1,850 locations. A24 is also releasing the romantic drama “We Live In Time” starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield in select cities.

Finally, Briarcliff Entertainment will release the much publicized “The Apprentice,” which stars Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong as Donald Trump and Roy Cohn in a dramatic retelling of how Cohn influenced the future U.S. president. The film got publicity due to the lack of interest among major specialty distributors to release the film amidst the presidential election, as well as an attempt by Trump’s legal team to block the film’s release.

Despite all the trade publicity, “The Apprentice” is projected to max out at $3 million from 1,740 theaters. Reviews from its screenings at Cannes and Telluride have given the film a 79% Rotten Tomatoes score.

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