While Damien Leone’s Terrifier 3 doesn’t release in theaters here in the United States until tonight – get your tickets now! – the film is already making waves after its first night of release over in France. In fact, it was already making headlines prior to its actual release, with the Classification Committee over in France quite literally banning minors from seeing Terrifier 3.
As we told you earlier this week, this is the first time a horror movie has been prohibited to minors under 18 since the release of director Darren Lynn Bousman’s Saw 3 back in 2006!
The film’s French distributors told us, “We can only deplore this unexpected final decision, which will seriously hamper the release of the film, awaited by tens of thousands of French viewers and scheduled for October 9 (and of course maintained). Terrifier 3 is a film d’auteur in the purest tradition of the slasher genre, with perfectly “grand-guignolesque” and unrealistic violence. The film never takes itself too seriously, and we know that viewers will have the necessary distance and maturity to understand and appreciate this artistic approach.”
Despite all this, Bloody Disgusting has learned this morning from Terrifier 3‘s French distributors (ESC Éditions, Shadowz Films and Factoris Films) that the ultra-slasher film had a monster-sized opening in France last night, topping the box office charts in the #1 spot!
The film recorded 45,000 admissions on only 126 prints in France last night, which Daily Pop notes is “a remarkable performance for a film prohibited for those under 18.”
Terrifier 3 topped films including The Wild Robot, Joker 2, and When Fall Is Coming at the French box office last night, with first day admissions beating previously released horror hits including Titane (13k first day), Saw X (35k first day) and Smile (33k first day).
Here in the United States, Terrifier 3 takes the fight to Joker: Folie à Deux beginning in theaters nationwide tonight, with many outlets predicting that the unrated, fully independent slasher sequel will dethrone the Joker sequel at the box office. Stay tuned for more on that.
In Terrifier 3, directed once again by Damien Leone (Terrifier, Terrifier 2), Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) is set to unleash another round of chaos on the unsuspecting residents of Miles County as they peacefully drift off to sleep on Christmas Eve.
“After surviving Art the Clown’s Halloween massacre, Sienna and her brother are struggling to rebuild their shattered lives. As the holiday season approaches, they try to embrace the Christmas spirit and leave the horrors of the past behind. But just when they think they’re safe, Art the Clown returns, determined to turn their holiday cheer into a new nightmare.
“The festive season quickly unravels as Art unleashes his twisted brand of terror, proving that no holiday is safe.”
Returning cast includes Lauren LaVera (Sienna), Samantha Scaffidi (Victoria Heyes), Elliot Fullam (Jonathan Shaw) and AEW superstar Chris Jericho (Burke), with Daniel Roebuck, makeup effects legend Tom Savini, Jason Patric, Antonella Rose, Krsy Fox, Clint Howard, and Jon Abrahams also appearing in Bloody Disgusting & Cineverse’s Terrifier 3.
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