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Cineverse’s low-budget slasher film, Terrifier 3, has surprised all of Hollywood to become a bonafide theatrical hit with over $40 million in just a couple of weeks, beating out some of October’s tentpoles.
The Big Picture: A super gory, unrated, independent film becoming one of the biggest movies in America (and with good reviews) further proves that the horror genre is one of the most reliable at the box office, mainly driven by a loyal fanbase who finds community in the scares.
Behind The Scenes: Cineverse, which is only worth $35 million and controls a variety of assets from true-crime podcasts to faith-and-family app Dove Channel, saw its stock jump 20% on the Nasdaq on the success of Terrifier 3… a lifesaver considering it was almost de-listed recently.
- Damien Leone’s film cost in the low single-digit millions, which the indie company Cineverse funded by taking out a loan on the profits of Terrifier 2 (which made roughly $16 million in 2022).
- Cineverse only spent $500,000 on marketing, which included several IRL and digital stunts, such as a call line with villain Art the Clown, a viral TikTok of Art shaking his head at a Joker: Folie à Deux billboard.
- It also leveraged some of its other platforms to get the word out to the horror community, including streaming service Screambox (where Terrifier 2 drove a 3x increase in subscribers) and tastemaker site Bloody Disgusting.
Final Kill: It’s rare for a movie to multiply in ticket sales with each new installment, especially when the first Terrifier didn’t even crack half a million at the box office in 2016. Fascinatingly, it seems culture has caught up with it, minting Art the Clown as this generation’s Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees. That means Cineverse will likely be making Terrifier moves for years to come… but also signals to the industry that the company knows how to help indie movies break out in a tough marketplace that rarely rewards niche films. Mastering marketing may be the most important skill for a Hollywood studio in 2024.
Go Deeper: Cineverse CEO Chris McGurk goes into even more detail about Terrifier 3’s success on The Town.
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