‘Terrifier 3’ star ‘stunned’ indie slasher out-earned ‘Joker 2’

“Terrifier 3” prima David Howard Thornton is inactive gobsmacked the 3rd installment successful the low-budget slasher franchise overtook “Joker: Folie à Deux” astatine the container bureau implicit the vacation weekend.

The 44-year-old fearfulness star, who has played serial slayer Art the Clown passim Damien Leone’s “Terrifier” films, told TMZ he’s inactive shocked the indie raked successful much dollars implicit the play than the Joaquin Phoenix-starring murderous clown sequel.

“I’m stunned,” Thornton laughed. “This is not truly thing you perceive astir each azygous day. This is specified a David and Goliath benignant of story, due to the fact that we’re truly a … small, lower-budget, autarkic film, and we were going up against, you know, 200-something million-dollar comic publication juggernauts retired there. So that’s a feat. I ne'er expected to spot it hap successful my life. I’m conscionable floored by it each and grateful for it all.”

Thornton credited the franchise’s “pretty dedicated instrumentality base” for a large chunk of the film’s mega earnings. Made connected a $2 cardinal budget, “Terrifier 3” earned over $21.5 cardinal U.S. earnings, and implicit $23.5 cardinal worldwide, since hitting theaters Friday.

The philharmonic “Joker” sequel, co-starring Lady Gaga, by contrast, deed theaters Oct. 4 and has frankincense acold earned implicit $52 cardinal successful the U.S. and astir $166 cardinal worldwide but had a $200 cardinal budget.

“Joker: Folie à Deux” has besides been wide panned, with a 33% support standing connected reappraisal aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, and “Terrifier 3” boasts a 74% support rating.

“This representation continues to confound,” 1 unidentified large workplace caput told Deadline astir the “Terrifier 3” occurrence story.

Thornton, for his part, hopes Hollywood volition present beryllium driven “to commencement making movies that instrumentality risks again and commencement making movies that radical person amusive watching together.”