‘Terrifier’ Director Damien Leone Heads to a Studio for Next Film ‘Tortures of the Damned,’ with Sam Raimi Producing

One of the bigger indie horror success stories in recent years is going to a major studio. Damien Leone, the director behind the box office darling “Terrifier” franchise, will make his next film at Lionsgate and is teaming with horror legend Sam Raimi to make it.

But rather than Lionsgate picking up the franchise or the next “Terrifier” film, it will be an original project called “Tortures of the Damned,” which Leone is writing, directing, and producing. Plot details are being kept under wraps.

“Tortures of the Damned” will be Leone’s next project after he completes “Terrifier 4,” which is currently in pre-production.

The “Terrifier” franchise follows the murderous Art the Clown in a series of ultra gory slasher films rife with sexual violence. The films are so gruesome that they’ve been released unrated by the MPA, so it’s a surprise that a major studio that needs to play by those rules would embrace the director’s next project.

But the box office is hard to ignore. The first “Terrifier” from 2016 made little impact at all, but the franchise became a cult smash when the second film opened from Cineverse in 2022, doing so with a very minimal marketing budget, and wound up grossing $15.8 million worldwide. The third film from 2024 blew the doors off and made $90 million worldwide.

Leone spoke to IndieWire back in October 2024 in response to accusations that his films were misogynistic in their depictions of violence against women. He’s defended himself against those accusations by pointing to the love fans have for the franchise’s final girl Sienna Shaw, as played by Lauren LaVera.” IndieWire also reported on a recent breach of contract suit filed against Leone by some of the franchise’s actresses as well as other disputes between artists who claim to have worked on the film or its promotional materials.

Raimi and Rob Tapert will produce through their Ghost House label alongside Leone. Scott O’Brien and Pavan Kalidindi will oversee for Lionsgate. Romel Adam and Jose Cañas will oversee the project for Ghost House and executive produce. The deals were negotiated for the studio by Dan Freedman.

Erin Westerman, president, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, said in a statement, “We’re incredibly proud and excited to be partnering with Damien Leone on his first original film after the beloved ‘Terrifier’ series. I join the huge contingency of horror fans — and Damien fans — inside Lionsgate who have been following his work and cheering him on. Damien is a true genre auteur with a singular vision, and we’re thrilled to help bring this bold new project to the screen while continuing to build on the incredible connection he has with fans around the world.”

Leone is represented by WME and Zerner Law.

Raimi most recently directed the horror thriller “Send Help,” and he’s teaming with Lionsgate again on another horror remake of the film “Magic.” He is represented by CAA and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller.