There’s only room for one killer clown at the top of box office charts.
“Terrifier 3” slashed its way to No. 1 in North America, collecting a stellar $18.3 million from 2,514 theaters in its opening weekend. It’s a huge start for the ultra-gory, independently made, low-budget slasher film about a demonic clown who brutalizes a small town.
Meanwhile “Joker: Folie á Deux,” which topped the box office last weekend, collapsed in third place with $7.055 million from 4,102 theaters. It could end up in fourth place, behind holdover “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” once the final numbers are tallied on Monday.
The off-beat comic book musical, starring Joaquin Phoenix as a reclusive stand-up comedian and part-time clown, suffered a tragic 82% decline in ticket sales from its already-disastrous $37.6 million debut. It ranks as one of the biggest-second weekend drops for the superhero genre, plunging more severely than last year’s misfires of “The Marvels” (78.1%), “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” (69.9%), “Shazam: Fury of the Gods” (69%) and “The Flash” (72.5%).
So far, “Folie a Deux” has generated $51.6 million domestically and $165.3 million globally. The Warner Bros. film carries a hefty $200 million price tag and, at this rate, will struggle to get anywhere near the $450 million needed to break even, according to sources familiar with the financials.
“Terrifier 3” has surprisingly positive critical and audience reactions for such an unsettling movie, scoring a “B” on CinemaScore and 77% on Rotten Tomatoes. The blood-soaked threequel, which doesn’t have a rating by the Motion Picture Association, has been stoking conversation about violence, with the distributors at Cineverse launching a hotline for moviegoers to complain about the carnage.
The third “Terrifier” installment has already surpassed the entire global haul of its predecessor, 2022’s “Terrifier 2.” That film defied the odds — and similarly dared moviegoers to not vomit — by earning $10 million domestically and $15.7 million globally, a scary-good result for the micro-budget production. The third movie, again directed by Damien Leone, features the sadistic Art the Clown, who usually strikes around Halloween, but this time decided to wait until Christmas to unleash his terror.
“This is an outstanding opening for a third episode in an indie horror series,” says analyst David A. Gross of movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “The series is not on the level of studio horror pictures — those are bigger movies — but […] it’s a great payoff.”
Fellow newcomer, “Piece By Piece,” a documentary that tells the life story of Pharrell Williams using Lego animation, fell short of expectations, opening in sixth place with $3.8 million from 1,865 locations. Focus Features is releasing the $16 million-budgeted film, which landed a promising “A” grade on CinemaScore and holds an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes. Morgan Neville, whose bona fides include the acclaimed Mr. Rogers doc “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” as well as “20 Feet From Stardom,” directed the doc.
“Musical bios and Lego each have a strong track-record on the big screen. This hybrid is not on the level of those individual genres,” says Gross. However, he adds, “The cost was reasonable. The movie is going to play well in ancillary markets and become profitable there.”
Sony’s “Saturday Night” struggled to breakthrough to mainstream audiences after two weekends in limited release. The high-wire look at the inaugural broadcast of “Saturday Night Live” landed at No. 7 with a muted $3.4 million from 2,300 theaters over the weekend. The film, directed by Jason Reitman, cost $30 million and will need to show endurance (and garner some awards attention) to turn a profit.
Another new release, “The Apprentice” crumbled in 11th place with $1.58 million from 1,740 venues. The biographical drama, in which Sebastian Stan portrays a young Donald Trump, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and struggled to find a buyer until Briarcliff Entertainment acquired the rights. Reviewers and audiences were mixed on the movie, which earned a “B-” CinemaScore and 77% on Rotten Tomatoes. One prominent critic has been Trump himself, who has threatened legal action over the movie. His team issued a statement over the summer saying, “This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked.”
Elsewhere at the domestic box office, Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s “The Wild Robot” soared in second place with $13.45 million in its third weekend of release. The well-reviewed family film has amassed $83.73 million domestically and $148 million globally to date.
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and “Transformers One” rounded out the top five. The former, a sequel to Tim Burton’s 1988 comedy horror favorite, took fourth place (ever so slightly behind “Joker 2”) with $7.050 million in its sixth weekend on the big screen. The “Beetlejuice” sequel has grossed $275 million in North America and $420 million globally. The latter, an animated origin story about Optimus Prime and Megatron, secured the No. 5 spot over several newcomers with $3.65 million in its fourth outing. It has earned $52.8 million domestically and $111 million worldwide so far.
With “Joker 2” failing to scare life into the box office, year-to-date revenues are 11.2% behind the same point in 2023 and 26.4% behind 2019, according to Comscore.
“This will be a very low grossing frame overall and one that will pale in comparison to the same time a year ago when ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ posted a massive debut,” says senior Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “It’s just part of the ups and downs of the box office that have been a hallmark of 2024 for theaters.”
