From Barbenheimer to ExorSwift, the ever-growing trend of two movies battling for box office supremacy is undoubtedly (and hilariously) becoming mainstream. But Terrifier 3 potentially surpassing Joker: Folie à Deux? Bet you didn’t see that one coming.
Then again, when we flush out the individual differences of each project, it’s certainly hard to discount just how many similarities there are between Damien Leone’s blood-splattered gorefest and Todd Phillips’ less-than-desirable sequel. Seriously, Todd, we just did not need a sequel.
Now, any passionate horror or DC fan can spot the glaring similitude between Art the Clown and (Art)hur Fleck. Both are clowns, yes. Both are killers, also yes. But there’s one super-sized difference that’s growing hard to ignore, and that’s the comparison of each movie’s budget. While the third chapter in Leone’s Terrifier trilogy only required a budget of $4 million, Joker 2 cost a staggering $200 million to make happen — and still the reviews have squashed the film faster than a bug on a windshield.
As per Discussing Film, Terrifier 3 has a legitimate shot at outperforming Joker 2 at the box office this weekend, which definitely speaks volumes as to how dissatisfied the superhero community is in regards to the once-anticipated Joker sequel crashing and burning. At the time of this writing, the Lady Gaga vehicle currently holds a disastrous 33% score on Rotten Tomatoes. As for Terrifier 3? Well, it currently holds a 74% score, and it technically isn’t even available to the public audience yet.
So, why exactly is Terrifier 3 — a movie with a relatively feeble budget in regards to typical Hollywood greed — projected to perform significantly better than a DC movie? Could it be that the DC tag is simply not as powerful as it once was? Or, perhaps the superhero realm is feeling significant Joker fatigue given how often the character is depicted in entertainment media.
That being said, one could argue that Terrifier’s expanding popularity simply continues to transcend new heights alongside the rise of the horror genre itself, which now has certainly ushered in a fresh-faced icon whose reputation is becoming as big as Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger. Now, that’s not to say the horror genre hasn’t experienced its own fair amount of fatigue over the years, especially in regards to an influx of clown-inspired horror flicks.
But to add a cherry on top of the scare-filled sundae, it’s equally possible that Terrifier 3 being banned in France and causing a large portion of moviegoers to vomit in theaters has added an extra element of mystery and appeal to the upcoming feature. It’s a familiar phenomenon from the release of Terrifier 2 back in 2022, where queasy cinephiles proceeded to vomit and faint during theater showings of the gory sequel.
So, considering 2019’s Joker solidified an Oscar win for Joaquin Phoenix and the sequel needed millions of dollars to make, it’s unequivocally embarrassing that Phillips’ sequel is struggling so hard to compete with an up-and-coming slasher icon who quite literally rips the flesh off his victims and tosses salt in their wounds to make matters worse. What a guy, eh? Either way, it’s clear that there’s only room in this town for one clown — and his name is Art. Sorry, Arthur, but you’re old news.