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Clown in the Cornfield earned IFC Entertainment Group’s biggest opening weekend ever with a $3.6 million gross. It was also the company’s widest theatrical opening, on 2,277 screens.
The slasher, which opened at #5 at the box office, surpassed Late Night with the Devil‘s $2.8 million opening. That movie went on to make $10M, which Clown is projected to exceed.
Based on Adam Cesare‘s Bram Stoker Award-winning 2020 novel of the same name, Clown in a Cornfield is directed by Eli Craig (Tucker and Dale vs Evil) from a script he co-wrote with Carter Blanchard.
“To say we are thrilled with the tremendous response to Eli Craig’s witty and playful adaptation of Adam Cesare’s chart-topping novel would be an understatement. This success is the result of great storytelling, tireless work from the entire team at IFC Entertainment Group and is a huge win for our RLJE division,” said Head of IFC Entertainment Group’s Scott Shooman.
“Thanks to the guidance of Mark Ward, RLJE’s Chief Acquisition Officer, Clown in a Cornfield has become our largest theatrical grosser ever as well as the biggest box office opening weekend for our company. This speaks volumes to how the IFC Entertainment Group synergistically operates and how our brands are growing – aiming to deliver unique genre-leaning titles with mass appeal.”
In the film, Quinn and her father have just moved to the quiet town of Kettle Springs hoping for a fresh start. Instead, she discovers a fractured community that has fallen on hard times after the treasured Baypen Corn Syrup Factory burned down.
As the locals bicker amongst themselves and tensions boil over, a sinister, grinning figure emerges from the cornfields to cleanse the town of its burdens, one bloody victim at a time. Welcome to Kettle Springs. The real fun starts when Frendo the clown comes out to play.
Katie Douglas (“Ginny & Georgia”), Carson MacCormac (Shazam), Aaron Abrams (“Hannibal”), Will Sasso (“Mad TV”), and Kevin Durand (Abigail) star.
Meagan Navarro wrote in her review, “What begins as a straightforward slasher deftly shifts gears, tackling heady topics with infectious snark and bloodletting. It’s a rare film that speaks directly to its teen audience while refusing to water down the horror; Clown in a Cornfield knows its demographic is resilient enough to handle the terror just fine.”
The success of Clown in a Cornfield comes on the heels of IFC Entertainment Group’s recent brand refresh, which formalized the integrated structure of AMC Networks’ four distinct film verticals — Independent Film Company, IFC Center, RLJE, and Shudder.
