Two murderous clowns will face off at the weekend box office as “ Terrifier 3 ” and “Joker: Folie a Deux” contend for the top slot on domestic charts. Ticket sales for the “Joker” sequel are projected to drop at least 60% to 65% in its second weekend, which would amount to $13 million to $15 million. However, that’s on the optimistic end.
Box office experts wouldn’t be surprised if the off-beat comic book musical suffered a tragic 70% to 75% decline — putting revenues at $9 million to $11 million — from its disastrous $37.6 million debut given poor reviews and terrible word-of-mouth. With those projections, “Terrifier 3” has the potential to pull off an upset.
The third installment in the “Terrifier” franchise is targeting $10 million to $13 million from 2,514 venues in its first weekend of release. It would be a huge start for the ultra-gory, low-budget slasher film. Also in the mix for No.
1 is Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s “The Wild Robot,” with the well-reviewed family film on track to add $12 million to $13 million in its third weekend of release. It has amassed $65.4 million domestically and $102 million globally to date.
The first “Terrifier” was relatively obscure, opening to $123,957 and ending its box office run with $419,000 worldwide in 2016. But the 2022 sequel “Terrifier 2” defied the odds — and dared moviegoers to not vomit — while emerging as one of the season’s unlikeliest successes. It launched to $805,0.