At the world premiere of Terrifier 3, franchise writer/director Damien Leone said there will be a Terrifier 4 – and he later said he thinks that will be the last entry in the franchise, because he doesn’t want it to wear out his welcome. We’ve heard that Leone plans to reveal Art the Clown’s origin in the new sequel, with the character’s backstory being told in the first 15 minutes, and that it will build up to a “batshit insane” finale. Now, Leone has revealed that the story takes place around New Year’s Eve!
Leone had a budget of around $55,000 to work with on his breakout horror film Terrifier, and a budget of “a little over” $250,000 for Terrifier 2, which was a massive hit when it was released in 2022, earning $15.1 million at the box office. Terrifier 3 has a substantially higher budget; a “couple million” went into that one – and it paid off, as the film raked in over $76 million at the box office. So we can probably expect Terrifier 4 to have a larger budget behind it as well.
Leone made the New Year’s Eve reveal on social media, where he wrote, “No space. No Easter bunny. Art’s bringing in the New Year!“
Terrifier 3 was set at Christmastime, so Terrifier 4 is picking up right after the events of that film. (Leone confirmed this in the comments section of his post.)
David Howard Thornton, who plays Art, is coming back for Terrifier 4, and he’s not entirely convinced that this is going to be the end of the franchise. Speaking with Slasher Radio, he said, “Is this going to be the true finale? I feel like this might be the finale of this story arc that [Leone]’s going with for right now and might give it a rest for a few years and might return later on to it. I have no idea, but I’m excited nonetheless.” Leone himself once said that Terrifier 5 might be required to properly wrap up the story and has also acknowledged that slasher franchises never really seem to end, so the door will probably be left open to more sequels in some way.
Are you a Terrifier fan, and are you glad to hear that Terrifier 4 is set around New Year’s Eve, right after the events of Terrifier 3? Let us know by leaving a comment below.