Terrifier Remake Turned Down by Creator After Studio Wanted Less Gore

The Terrifier franchise is known for featuring some of the goriest scenes in horror cinema, but according to director Damien Leone, a Terrifier remake was desired by major studios.

What did Damien Leone say about Terrifier?

Speaking to Total Film in a recent interview, Leone recalled a time when the Terrifier franchise was nearly picked up by a mainstream studio. While Leone didn’t clarify when this was or what studio, he did note that the studio wanted to “reboot” things to make the series more open to a wider audience.

“They wanted to reboot it for a wider audience. That’s not what I was interested in. They would say, ‘It’s gotta be rated R, it can’t be as gory as you made it,’” said Leone. “I knew they’d never let me shoot the first 10 minutes of what I wanted to do [in Terrifier 3], “So I thought, ‘Let’s just stay true to what this franchise is.’”

Originally premiering in 2016, the Terrifier franchise is a series of slasher films starring David Howard Thornton as Art the Clown, a villainous creature dressed in a clown costume. A sequel film to Terrifier was released in 2022 to an incredibly successful box office run (the film earned $15.7 million against a budget of $250,000). A third film, Terrifier 3, is set to release on October 11, 2024.

Leone previously teased on X (formerly Twitter) that Terrifier 3 would feature one of the most “horrific scenes” of the entire franchise. He wrote, “Can honestly say we just filmed one of the most insanely horrific scenes of the Terrifier franchise and you’ll never believe who couldn’t handle it on set. The bts is hilarious. Can’t wait for you all to see!”

(Source: Total Film)