Terrifier 3 Star Reveals Surprising Connection Between Art the Clown and The Joker (2025)

Actor David Howard Thornton is making his mark on the horror genre with his continued portrayal of Art the Clown. Terrifier 3 is currently the king of the box office, even knocking the Joker sequel down into the No. 2 spot, but that's not the only connection between Art the Clown and the Clown Prince of Crime.

On the social media platform Threads, the Art actor shared a meme acknowledging how "inspiring" it is that he is starring in a film that took the box office crown from Joker: Folie à Deux, as this comes years after Thornton actually played the Joker in online fan films. Coincidentally, Thornton also happened to be cast as Art the Clown and the Joker in the very same week, nearly a decade before Terrifier 3 battled Joker: Folie à Deux at the box office. As Thornton said, "I was actually cast as Art and Joker in the same week in 2015."

"The Joker is my favorite villain of all time, and that's a character I would love to play myself one day," he said. "So hopefully someone like James Gunn gives me the opportunity to tackle that character because I would like to do a lot of fun things with him."

Thornton portrayed the Joker in the webseries Nightwing: Escalation in 2016 and 2017. The first Terrifier film was also released in 2016. Though the Art the Clown character had appeared in previous projects by Terrifier trilogy director Damien Leone, Thornton took over the role for Terrifier after previous actor Mike Gannelli retired. Thornton does not intend to go anywhere, as the actor has teased that he's up for playing Art until he's elderly. A fourth film is currently in development, so there will be more to come yet of Thornton as the sadistic killer clown.

David Howard Thornton Hopes to Play the DCU's Joker

There may be another chance for Thornton to play the Joker, and maybe this time, it will be for an official DC Studios project. In a recent interview with GamesRadar+, Thornton expressed how big of a fan he is of the Clown Prince of Crime, as he's a self-professed "comic book geek" who's loved the character since childhood. The actor also shared his hopes that he'll be considered when it comes time for James Gunn and Peter Safran to figure out the casting for the DCU's version of the Joker.

Written and directed by Damien Leone, Terrifier 3 picks up five years after the events of the second film. Set during the Christmas holiday season, the film imagines Art the Clown carrying out a bloody killing spree while suited up as ghastly version of Santa Claus. Along with Thornton, the film stars Lauren Lavera, Ellioot Fullam, Margaret Anne Florence, Bryce Johnson, Antonella Rose, and Samantha Scaffidi.

Terrifier 3 is now playing in movie theaters.

Source: David Howard Thornton on Threads

7

10

Terrifier 3

Not Rated

Horror

Art the Clown is set to unleash chaos on the unsuspecting residents of Miles County as they peacefully drift off to sleep on Christmas Eve.

Director

Damien Leone

Release Date

October 11, 2024

Cast

Lauren LaVera , David Howard Thornton , Antonella Rose , Elliott Fullam , Samantha Scaffidi , Margaret Anne Florence , Bryce Johnson , Alexa Blair Robertson , Mason Mecartea , Krsy Fox , Luciana VanDette , Clint Howard , Bradley Stryker , Daniel Roebuck , Chris Jericho , Tom Savini , Jason Patric , Alex Ross , Kailey Hyman , Kellen Raffaelo , Lisa Marie Falcone , Stephen Cofield Jr. , Corrine Kelly , Joe Falcone , Peter Mitchell , Marie Maser , Jon Abrahams

Writers

Damien Leone

Runtime

125 Minutes

Main Genre

Horror

Studio(s)

Dark Age Cinema , Fuzz on the Lens Productions

Distributor(s)

Cineverse

prequel(s)

Terrifier , Terrifier 2

Franchise(s)

Terrifier

Character(s)

Sienna , Art the Clown , Gabbie , Jonathan , Victoria Heyes , Jessica , Greg , Mia , Cole , Jennifer , Juliet , Smokey , Eddie , Santa / Charlie , Burke , Bystander , Michael , Mark , Brooke , Timmy , Dispatch , Officer Evans , Bag Lady , Dean , Cosplayer , Receptionist , Dennis