Terrifier filmmaker has 'no definitive answer' on gory franchise's future

Damien Leone has "no definitive answer" on the future of the 'Terrifier' franchise.

The 42-year-old writer and director is the man behind the gruesome and gory horror saga which has taken his character Art The Clown from a cult favourite to a box office juggernaut after the recent release of 'Terrifier 3'.

Asked about the future of the series, he told Variety: "There is no definitive answer at this time regarding how many more films I will make before concluding the ‘Terrifier’ saga."

Leone admitted while he does have an "epic" ending figured out, he isn't sure exactly how many movies it'll take to get there.

He added: "Personally, I can’t see it going further than one or two more films, but only time will tell.

“For now, all I can say with certainty is that I know how it ends, and it will be epic.”

The latest installment pulled in $18.3 million (£14m) over its opening weekend to top the box office charts in North America.

David Howard returned as Art for the film, which brings all the twisted horror to the festive season.

While some have been critical of the series due to its visceral gory scenes - with some being particularly vocal over Art’s off-screen murder of a child in the third flick - Leone has said he was always looking to "push the boundary" of what has come to be expected from a horror movie, but was also trying to avoid "a level of extreme distaste" with the intense violence.

He recently told the same outlet: "I’m always looking for lines to get up to, to push the boundary. Maybe just step right over it.

"But you can absolutely fall into a level of extreme distaste that I’m trying not to do. There’s a scene in the beginning where Art murders a child offscreen and you just hear it.

"I could have shown that and the glorious way that we executed the scene. I would never do that, because to me, that’s just completely off-putting and you’re going to alienate a large majority of your audience."

Before the film hit theatres, Leone teased the upcoming fourth chapter in the saga, suggesting it could be the "most experimental" in the series.

He added to the same outlet: "It will certainly be an epic showdown, an epic closure to this Art the Clown saga.

“The idea I’m toying with in my head would probably be in some regards the most experimental, so I can’t dive into it too much. Some really, really crazy things will happen in the next one.”