How Terrifier 3s Major Box Office Record Reshapes The Horror Genres Future

While Terrifier 3’s box office success was already impressive, the horror sequel’s latest record-breaking achievement could substantially reshape the genre in years to come. Terrifier 3’s success is, by any metric, astounding. The $2 million slasher sequel, which features no A-list stars, dethroned Joker 2 during its opening weekend to become the number-one movie in America. In the weeks that followed, Terrifier 3’s box office performance went from strength to strength. As of early November, the sequel has earned over $63 million despite Terrifier 3’s brutal kills running the risk of alienating casual viewers.



Related

Where Is The Little Pale Girl In Terrifier 3?

Terrifier 2’s Little Pale Girl was arguably as scary as Art the Clown himself, but where is she is Terrifier 3 and how is she linked to Vicky?

Even though Terrifier 3’s controversial opening scene had viewers throwing up and passing out, the sequel has still somehow managed to earn both stellar reviews and an incredible box office performance. Terrifier 3’s cliffhanger ending means that the series is certain to continue, and its next sequel may end up performing even more impressively at the box office. However, one specific box office record that Terrifier 3 broke already has bigger implications for the horror genre more broadly. Until recently, unrated movies weren’t generally viewed as a viable commercial prospect. Terrifier 3 has changed that.



Terrifier 3 Is The Highest Grossing Unrated Movie Ever

The Slasher Sequel Also Out-earned Every NC-17 Movie

According to BloodyDisgusting, Terrifier 3 is the most financially successful unrated movie of all time. The record was previously held by Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, which earned $43 million globally upon its 2023 release. While that record was undeniably impressive, Terrifier 3’s $63 million payday has handily outstripped it and the sequel shows no signs of stopping now. This means that, in the near future, it could become financially viable for major studios to release unrated horror movies. This hasn’t historically been the case and that has had a major impact on censorship norms in the genre.

Occasionally, horror movies with a lot of violent content risked earning an NC-17 rating, but these were invariably recut to allow for an R-rating.


In 1990, the MPAA replaced the X rating with the more commercially prohibitive NC-17 rating. While there were a handful of major hits that were rated X, entire cinema chains refused to even carry movies that earned an NC-17 rating. As a result, the rating became associated with adult movies, experimental films, and art movies rather than mainstream hits. Occasionally, horror movies with a lot of violent content risked earning an NC-17 rating, but these were invariably recut to allow for an R-rating if the movie in question had the potential to be a studio hit.

What Terrifier 3’s Unrated Box Office Record Means For Horror

Future Horror Movies May Not Need To Worry About Ratings


Going forward, Terrifier 3 proves that not every horror movie needs an R rating to become a major mainstream success. The NC-17 rating used to be anathema to mainstream popularity, and shocking moments like Terrifier 3’s instantly infamous glass shard scene would likely have been cut if the movie wanted a rating for its release. The implications that this has for horror as a genre are hard to conceive. Fede Alvarez recut Evil Dead to receive an R in 2013 while Hereditary director Ari Aster did the same with Midsommar in 2019. Even 1996’s Scream was cut to receive an R-rating.


These influential hit movies could have made the landscape of modern cinematic horror darker, more violent, and harsher if they had not been edited. Now, as it looks like unrated movies can become major hits, the possibility of future movies replicating Terrifier 3’s success seems almost inevitable. The Terrifier series is unique, but Terrifier 3’s massively profitable unrated release need not necessarily be a one-off case. Instead, it could be proof that other franchises/movies can risk an unrated release, which could reshape the genre. The horrors listed above could have been very different if they were released unrated.

Terrifier 3’s Unrated Release Outdoes The Most Infamously Gory Horrors

Many Mid-00s Horror Movies Were Cut To Receive R Ratings


Although Terrifier 3’s Vicky and Art the Clown are undeniably sadistic, they are hardly unique in this regard. Horror is filled with famously cruel, violent villains and plenty of earlier filmmakers struggled with the MPAA while bringing their brutal visions to life. In particular, some of the most famous and influential horrors of the mid-00s were trimmed when their original director’s cuts earned NC-17 ratings.

Terrifier Franchise Key Details

Movie

Release Date

Budget

Box Office Gross

RT Tomatometer Score

RT Popcornmeter Score

Terrifier

2016

$35,000-$55,000

$416,000

60%

53%

Terrifier 2

2022

$250,000

$15.7 million

86%

80%

Terrifier 3

2024

$2 million

Pending

77%

94%


2005’s Hostel, 2004’s Saw, and 2006’s The Hills Have Eyes remake were all recut due to their intense gore, but all three spawned sequels despite this. The fact that Terrifier 3 has already almost equaled the latter’s $70 box office take proves that unrated movies are much more viable than they were during the nist recebt heyday of gore-forward, boundary-pushing multiplex horror. It is impossible to know what horror would look like if these movies were released in their uncut, unrated form, but Terrifier 3’s success means this could be the case for new horror movies.

Terrifier 3
is currently playing in theaters.

Source: BloodyDisgusting