One of the most anticipated horror films of 2024 wasTerrifier 3and its success is in sharp contrast to a growing issue with Hollywood movies. Following the financial success ofTerrifier 2,Terrifier 3goes bigger with a larger budget, plenty of kills, and expanded lore. With a production budget of only $2 million–a fraction of what most major franchise films have–Terrifier 3earned back about 35 times its production budget globally.
Terrifier 3’sbox office climbed 2024’s highest-grossing movies listdomestically at $53 million. This puts it right behindJoker: Foile à Deux, which made $58 million domestically; however, that sequel has a significantly larger production budget at $200 million. As a result,Joker 2has a lackluster theatrical run whileTerrifier 3is a box office darling.
It’s not just theJokersequel that is performing poorly at the box office. In recent years, films that once would have been considered major successes are flopping. Meanwhile, a smaller-budget, more independent film likeTerrifier 3sees profit. One of the key reasons for this is becausetraditional blockbusters are setting themselves up for failure with impossibly large budgets.
Hollywood Needs to Lower Movie Budgets to Help Films Be More Successful
Hollywood Blockbusters Keep Flopping at the Box Office
The biggest movie box office bombs of 2023include films from some of the biggest and most beloved franchises, like the MCU,Mission Impossible, DC,Indiana Jones, andThe Fast and the Furious. These are major IPs with massive star power behind them, and these are all movies that cost too much to make. TakeMission Impossible: Dead Reckoning’sbox office disappointment, for instance. Domestically, it grossed more thanTerrifier 3’sbox office at $172 million. Globally, it makes over three times that at $567.5 million. Despite this,Dead Reckoningis a flop, having lost an estimated $100 million.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
$270 Million
$198 Million
To consider a movie that made over half a billion dollars at the box office a flop is obscure, but that’s what happens when the budgets for these blockbusters are so massive. It’s an impossible standard to meet, which is whyTerrifier 3, with its reasonable, small production budget, was able to make back its investments while maintaining the quality of filmmaking fans expect of the franchise, as seen byTerrifier 3’sRotten Tomatoes score breaking 11 records.
Why Hollywood Will Struggle to Replicate Terrifier 3’s Success
Hollywood Doubles Down on Overpriced IPs and Franchises
WhileTerrifier 3made a profit,big-budget films have more to lose. However, the chance to make an enormous amount of money off a multi-million dollar film is too tempting for some studios. Looking at the10 highest-grossing films of 2023, many of them are big-budget films with an established IP and stacked cast, but just because a film has a big box office doesn’t mean it will make back its money.
Terrifier 3 VOD Release Date Revealed After Record-Breaking Box Office Run
After a record-breaking run at the box office, Art the Clown’s latest outing, Terrifier 3, now has an official VOD release date on the horizon.
WhileBarbieachieved incredible box office records,Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoningis another one of the top-grossing films of 2023, and it’s still a financial failure.It’s a massive gamble to make a multi-million dollar picture, but it’s a gamble studios take even when it’s been proven time and again that small-budget and mid-budget films can be financial successes without as much of a risk.
Going back toDead Reckoningas an example, studios aren’t learning from this financial failure. Instead, they’ve doubled down on the follow-up film.Mission Impossible 8’srecord budget is extremely worryingas it’s over $300 million dollars. With blockbuster films of this size often needing to be 2.5 times their budget to be a success, it’s a massive risk to continue this pattern. It’s also an unnecessary one when films likeTerrifier 3prove small-budget films can be more profitable for less.
Terrifier 3
Cast
Terrifier 3 follows Sienna and her brother as they attempt to move past the traumatic events of Art the Clown’s Halloween massacre. As they embrace the Christmas season, Art reemerges, intent on turning their holiday into a nightmare, continuing his reign of terror.
