‘Terrifier 3’ — Everything We Know About Art the Clown’s Return

From the twisted mind of Damien Leone, Art the Clown will return as the famously silent killer clown in the third installment of the Terrifier franchise. Since the release of the original film in 2018, which had a budget of only $35,000, the movie became an immediate cult classic among indie horror fans because of the extreme violence and usage of practical special effects. The popularity and success of the first movie spurred Terrifier 2 to get green-lit, with a much larger budget. The second installment was funded in large by crowdsourcing investors through an IndieGogo campaign asking for $50,000 to film a gruesome scene requiring massive practical effects. Thanks to donations to the campaign, Leone was able to accrue over $250,000 from private investors.

The third installment in the franchise, Terrifier 3 has been officially confirmed to be in pre-production, boasting an even bigger filming budget. The exact amount has yet to be released. Still, Priscilla Smith, president and founder of The Coven, a French distribution company, and executive producer has stated that it will be a “low-mid seven-figure budget.” After a fan-based campaign led by horror specialist publication Bloody Disgusting, to get Terrifier 2 nominated for an Academy Award gained some momentum (but ultimately failed), Smith has also stated “all jokes aside, we are going for that Oscar this year.” Returning to produce will be Lisa Falcone and Phil Falcone, who executive produced the previous two installments. This article will tell you everything you need to know about the upcoming Terrifier film!

Editor’s Note: This piece was updated on May 2, 2024.

Does ‘Terrifier 3’ Have a Release Date?

Terrifier 3is set to scare its way into theaters on October 11, 2024, just in time for Halloween. The only movie also slotted for that weekend is Pharrell Williams and Morgan Neville‘s Lego stop-motion film Piece by Piece.

The third movie in the cult-favorite slasher franchise was initially set to release on October 25, 2024, before being pushed up two weeks.

Following the surprising success of Terrifier 2’s theatrical debut and box office performance, it’s not surprising to learn that, Terrifier 3 will receive an exclusive theatrical release before moving to streaming services. In June 2023, it was announced that the entertainment company Cineverse had acquired the North American distribution rights to the film and is planning on giving the threequel a wide theatrical release. Once the film leaves theaters, it will be able to stream exclusively on Cineverse’s streaming service Screambox.

Is There a Trailer for ‘Terrifier 3’?

Those who were lucky enough to watch the re-release of Terrifier 2 on November 1, 2023, were able to see the teaser trailer for Terrifier 3 early.

The teaser trailer was later released online by Cineverse on November 13, 2023. The teaser, which runs at just over 2 minutes, follows a young girl who sneaks downstairs on Christmas Eve to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus himself. She’s awestruck when she sees a man in a red suit placing gifts under the tree, but that glee is short-lived when it is revealed that she’s the person she’s about to meet is not Jolly Ol St. Nic, but Art the Clown.

What Is ‘Terrifier 3’ Going To Be About?

Details about the exact plot have been kept under tight wraps for the time being. Although as revealed in the first poster for the film as well as the teaser trailer, Terrifier 3 will be set during the Christmas season. In an interview with Variety, Leone revealed that he knew what Terrifier 3 would be like around the same time he was writing Terrifier 2.

“Once I figured out what Part Two was, I knew it was going to be at least a trilogy, so I’ve been working on this since I completed Part Two. Even while I was writing Part Two, I actually had scenes that I’d already written for Part Three because I knew where it was going to go”

However, we do know that Leone has big plans to make this film even more extreme in terms of violence and gore compared to the previous installments. In October 2022, he announced that he already had a treatment for Terrifier 3 in the works, but that

“it’s getting so big that it could potentially split into a Part 4 because [he] wouldn’t want to make another 2 hour and 20-minute movie.”

He continued, adding that the next few Terrifier movies would slowly begin to delve into the origin and background of the antagonist, Art the Clown.

Leone also revealed that he’ll be bringing over some of his ambitious unused ideas from the first two films, including a kill involving Tara.

So that was a kill that I kept on the back burner… I didn’t even put it in Part Two. So that’s one I may explore. But there’s another one I thought of about a month ago, where it clicked and I said ‘That’s going to be the next bedroom kill scene’ — you’ll know it when you see it. I can’t say for sure I’ll ever top any of these scenes — it’s always going to be subjective — but you will know it when you see it.

Also returning to the franchise will be the character Sienna Shaw, the teenage protagonist who is introduced in Terrifier 2. Since announcing the news, Leone has stated:

“
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. If you thought Art the Clown’s reign of terror in part 2 was extreme, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

The official plot synopsis for Terrifier 3 via Cineverse reads:

In the third installment of Damien Leone’s breakout horror film, Art the Clown is set to unleash chaos on the unsuspecting residents of Miles County as they peacefully drift off to sleep on Christmas Eve.

Who Is in the Cast of ‘Terrifier 3’?

Reprising his iconic role as Art the Clown will be David Howard Thornton. Thornton is famous for portraying the killer clown in the franchise but has also recently expanded his reach into the latest trend of transforming beloved childhood characters into horror films. Similar to Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, which turned Pooh Bear and Piglet into homicidal maniacs shortly after the characters became public domain, Thornton starred most recently as a murderous version of “The Grinch” in the 2022 holiday horror film, The Mean One.

Also confirmed to be returning is Lauren LaVera in her protagonist role of Sienna Shaw. The Philadelphia native is best known for her role in the Terrifier franchise but has also done a lot of work with short films such as Stalked, Night of the Devil, and How To Be Human. In Terrifier 2, we get to see her character transform into more of a supernatural force, as Art the Clown seems to have supernatural abilities to return from mortal wounds. The characters, as Leone has described, are written to reflect an almost biblical battle between good and evil. In the second film, which, like the first film, takes place over the course of Halloween night, she chooses to dress as an angel-warrior character, not unlike the Valkyries of Nordic mythology. Leone has also stated that Sienna’s character is by far his favorite character to have created and that her character is “crucial to the franchise moving forward.” Elliot Fullam will also return as Jonathan Shaw along with Samantha Scaffidi as Victoria Heyes.

Leone also revealed that pro wrestler Chris Jericho, who had a memorable cameo in the end-credits scene in Terrifier 2, will also be returning to the role of Burke, an attendant at a psychiatric hospital. In an interview with MovieWeb, Jericho talked about his experience prepping for the movie, saying:

“I have seen the script. I have already kind of done the [prep and prosthetics], the filming that they do when they’re taking molds of your face and all this sort of thing. So, suffice to say I don’t have a good, well, I don’t last very long.”

Daniel Roebuck, a longtime veteran of the horror genre, has also been cast in Terrifier 3 as Santa Claus. Roebuck is most known for his work alongside cult-favorite horror director/musician Rob Zombie, having starred in his films The Devil’s Rejects, Halloween, Halloween II, The Haunted World of Super El Beasto, The Lords of Salem, 31, 3 From Hell, and The Munsters.

During an interview with Deadline, Leone revealed what to expect from the return of Scaffidi and Jericho:

“There are a few new major characters introduced in three, one in particular that it’s too soon for me to announce… What I think I can say at this stage is that Chris Jericho is going to be returning. He’s super excited. This one is going to pick up where part two left off, in the insane asylum, so, you’re going to see what transpires there, what mayhem unfolds, because seeing how Art and Victoria ended up, is so insane, and seeing how they get out of that situation and what happens next is going to be really wild. So, we have to get Chris back in there and see how he becomes a part of that situation.”

When Will ‘Terrifier 3’ Film?

While Terrifier 3 will be hitting theaters later this year, filming didn’t even begin until February 2024. In late March, director Damien Leone teased that they just filmed one of the most “horrific” scenes of the franchise to date.

In April, Lauren LeVara posted an image of herself on set.

On April 15, it was confirmed that filming on Terrifier 3 had officially wrapped.

Who Is Art the Clown?

The enigmatic killer clown remains a mystery to fans of the first two films. Not to mention his first official appearance in Damien Leone’s 2008 short film The 9th Circle, followed by the short film, Terrifier in 2011. The character made his first full-length debut with Leone’s anthology-style horror movie All Hallows’ Eve in 2013. The motive behind Art the Clown’s violent behavior still remains a mystery, as this is something that Leone wants to slowly reveal more about Art’s history with each future installment of the franchise. David Howard Thornton, who plays Art the Clown in each movie, has experience with mime work, which he employs through his portrayal of the character throughout the franchise, adding to the mystique of the character’s origin story.

The concept for Art the Clown came to Damien Leone from a concept he had about a woman getting onto a bus after a long day at work, only to have a clown board soon after and sit across from her, taunting her. Leone wanted Art to come across as both uncomfortable and comedic in his actions, but to slowly become more menacing and threatening as the interaction continued. As he progressively becomes more intimidating and aggressive with his victims, the comedic aspect melts away, leaving only a mute and terrifying tormentor.

Art also seems to possess supernatural abilities, as previously mentioned, by returning from the dead several times, as well as surviving what would be fatal injuries to any normal human. Without fully understanding why and how he is able to regenerate from mortal wounds, it’s only fitting that his arch nemesis, protagonist Sienna Shaw, is also able to tap into an almost supernatural ability when she faces off with him.