Skip to main content

Terrifier 3 director teases the end of the horror franchise

Art the Clown holds an axe while wearing a Santa costume in Terrifier 3.
Cineverse

Art the Clown may seem unstoppable, but that doesn’t mean the Terrifier franchise is going to continue forever. The horror series’ creator, writer-director Damien Leone, has confirmed as much.

“My big fear is of going on too long and wearing out my welcome,” the filmmaker confessed in an interview with SFX Magazine. “I want to have a solid franchise, whether it be a trilogy – or maybe a quadrilogy if I have one more in mind – where it starts, where it ends, and you can walk away with a satisfying conclusion and closure and say that was pretty cool.”

Recommended Videos

Like Halloween, Friday the 13th, and dozens of other classic horror properties before it, the Terrifier franchise has emerged as an unlikely success in the eight years since its first installment was released in 2016. That film, which Leone directed with a shoestring budget of just $35,000, went on to gross over $416,000 at the box office. Six years later, Terrifier 2 raked in over $15 million over the course of its theatrical run in 2022.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Now, Terrifier 3 is set to hit theaters in just a few short weeks. Set during the Christmas season, the new film sees David Howard Thornton’s Art the Clown return to wreak more chaos and carnage — this time whilst donning a red Santa suit. The sequel seems primed, in other words, to continue pushing its franchise’s already well-tested limits of both gore and pitch-black humor.

Terrifier 3 Trailer #1 (2024)

Whether or not Terrifier 3 will be able to replicate its predecessor’s success two years ago is impossible to predict. However, even if it matches or surpasses Terrifier 2 at the box office, it doesn’t sound like fans should expect to see too much more of Art the Clown. During his conversation with SFX Magazine, Leone was asked if he envisions a potential fourth Terrifier film as being the franchise’s final installment.

“I think so,” he said. “I have the whole story mapped out. I had it mapped out since part two, honestly, which is huge. Knowing where you’re going to end it is probably the hardest thing and I figured out the ending to this a while ago.”

Only time will tell what conclusion Leone has in mind for his horror franchise, but one can only assume it’ll involve Thornton’s Art, as well as his sword-wielding final girl nemesis, Lauren LaVera’s Sienna Shaw. For now, though, it sounds like Terrifier fans should just focus on enjoying their remaining time in the franchise’s surreal, bloody world as much as they can before they ultimately have to say goodbye to it.

Terrifier 3 hits theaters on Friday, October 11.

Alex Welch
Alex is a writer and critic who has been writing about and reviewing movies and TV at Digital Trends since 2022. He was…
Nosferatu director reveals iconic horror story he gave up on trying to adapt
A clawed hand's shadow covers Lily-Rose Depp in "Nosferatu."

Robert Eggers is experiencing some of the most high-profile success of his career right now. His latest film, Nosferatu, has not only received largely rave reviews, but also emerged as a surprise box office hit after grossing over $100 million worldwide in its first two weeks in theaters. The film is Eggers' take on the iconic 1922 silent horror film of the same name, which is itself unofficially based on Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Given his success with Nosferatu and his clear interest in classic horror stories, one could assume that Eggers might have plans to tackle another, similarly monumental horror property at some point in the future. Sure enough, in a recent interview with Curzon, Eggers revealed that he's already tried writing his own adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Eggers says he was inspired to do so by the birth of his son, saying he felt an "unconscious urge" to try his hand at reinterpreting the beloved, timeless gothic novel.

Read more
Se7en director David Fincher once pitched a creepy take on Harry Potter to Warner Bros.
Harry holds Hermione in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), directed by Alfonso Cuarón.

Four directors helmed Warner Bros. Pictures' eight Harry Potter movies. Home Alone director Chris Columbus directed the series' first two installments, 2001's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and 2002's Chamber of Secrets, while Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell, and David Yates tackled the six films that followed. Each brought their own sensibilities to the franchise, especially Cuarón, who is a well-respected name among both casual moviegoers and diehard cinephiles. It turns out that he isn't the only celebrated auteur that Warner Bros. met with to direct a Harry Potter film, either.

In a recent interview with Variety, Se7en and The Social Network director David Fincher revealed that he was asked by Warner Bros. at one point to pitch his take on the Harry Potter universe. He doesn't specify when said conversation happened or which film WB was specifically interested in him handling. Fincher, however, says that his pitch was ultimately far grimier and, well, creepier than the studio was interested in exploring.

Read more
5 great horror movies to watch on New Year’s Day
A partygoer gets bloody in Antisocial

New Year’s is a time to party, but also a time to look forward to the fresh start ahead. Whichever type of New Year’s person you are, we’ve got some great horror movies you should check out for the holiday, and a few are even streaming completely for free.

So whether you want to party like there’s no tomorrow (which, for many of the characters in the movies below, there won’t be one), or if you prefer to look forward to what wonders (or terrors) might await you in the new year, check out these five horror movies you should stream on New Year’s.

Read more