“Terrifier 3” star David Howard Thornton is still gobsmacked the third installment in the low-budget slasher franchise overtook “Joker: Folie à Deux” at the box office over the holiday weekend.
The 44-year-old horror star, who has played serial killer Art the Clown throughout Damien Leone’s “Terrifier” films, told TMZ he’s still shocked the indie raked in more dollars over the weekend than the Joaquin Phoenix-starring murderous clown sequel.
“I’m stunned,” Thornton laughed. “This is not really something you hear about every single day. This is such a David and Goliath type of story, because we’re really a … small, lower-budget, independent film, and we were going up against, you know, 200-something million-dollar comic book juggernauts out there. So that’s a feat. I never expected to see it happen in my life. I’m just floored by it all and grateful for it all.”
Thornton credited the franchise’s “pretty dedicated fan base” for a big chunk of the film’s mega earnings. Made on a $2 million budget, “Terrifier 3” earned over $21.5 million U.S. earnings, and over $23.5 million worldwide, since hitting theaters Friday.
The musical “Joker” sequel, co-starring Lady Gaga, by contrast, hit theaters Oct. 4 and has thus far earned over $52 million in the U.S. and nearly $166 million worldwide but had a $200 million budget.
“Joker: Folie à Deux” has also been widely panned, with a 33% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, and “Terrifier 3” boasts a 74% approval rating.
“This picture continues to confound,” one unidentified major studio head told Deadline about the “Terrifier 3” success story.
Thornton, for his part, hopes Hollywood will now be driven “to start making movies that take risks again and start making movies that people have fun watching together.”
