Art the Clown Is Crashing New Year’s Eve in Terrifier 4

On May 8, 2026, Damien Leone posted to Instagram and put the last holiday speculation to rest. After setting Terrifier 3 during Christmas — with Art doing his worst in a Santa suit — Leone has now confirmed the fourth installment will take place around New Year’s Eve. “No space. No Easter bunny. Art’s bringing in the New Year!” Which, honestly, tracks.

Although films like New Year’s Evil and Terror Train have played in that holiday space before, there is no robust tradition of New Year’s horror — which gives Leone plenty of room to do something genuinely iconic with champagne, countdowns, and a killer clown who absolutely does not care about your resolutions.

Terrifier 4

Leone has previously said the script is “shaping up to be the most epic, horrifying, thrilling, emotional and satisfying conclusion to the Terrifier saga.” He also confirmed Art’s backstory will be revealed in the opening 15 minutes. So if you have been waiting a decade to find out what made Art the Clown Art the Clown, the answer is apparently arriving in the first quarter of the runtime.

Franchise stars David Howard Thornton (Art the Clown), Lauren LaVera (Sienna Shaw), and Samantha Scaffidi (Victoria Heyes) are all expected to return. LaVera told Bloody Disgusting, “I want some sort of retribution for Sienna. I think our girl’s been through enough and she deserves a win.” Fair. Thornton, for his part, is teasing something “bat-shit insane” while admitting Leone has kept him mostly in the dark this time around.

According to Leone, the script is nearly done, and he expects pre-production to begin this spring. A fan asked him on camera whether the film was tracking for 2026 or 2027, and he confirmed: 2027.

As for the “final installment” framing — Leone has said this is it for the franchise. That has been said about many slasher films before, including Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, which went on to spawn eight more sequels. Make of that what you will.

UK fans are already well-acquainted with Art’s chaos. Terrifier 3 hit physical media in the UK on 16 December 2024 and is currently available to rent or buy on Prime Video UK and iTunes. According to Screen Rant, New Year’s Eve falls less than a week after Christmas, meaning Terrifier 4 could pick up almost exactly where the Terrifier 3 cliffhanger left off — though the franchise has already shown it has no problem with a five-year jump between films when it suits the story.

Terrifier 3 became the highest-grossing unrated film of all time, grossing over $90 million on a $2 million budget. Leone has a lot to live up to with a New Year’s ball drop and a body count to match.

We’ll keep you posted on updates about Terrifier 4 as the project develops.