Clown in a Cornfield movie sets early 2025 release date

Frendo the Clown is coming soon to big screens near you! Deadline exclusively reports that Shudder and RLJE Films have purchased the distribution rights to the adaptation of Adam Cesare's popular Bram Stoker Award-winning horror novel Clown in a Cornfield and set the release date for May 9, 2025.

With Shudder's involvement, that also means we can anticipate the movie streaming on the premiere horror service at some point. Eli Craig, best known for directing the beloved cult film Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, directs.

Now a horror trilogy of books, Clown in a Cornfield is set in the fictional midwestern town of Kettle Springs. In the first book, teenage Quinn and her dad move to this quiet town in search of a fresh start, but the townsfolk have fallen on hard times due to the local corn syrup factory burning down. Tensions rise, and amongst the residents, a terrifying clown named Frendo emerges and begins killing people. The second book was released in 2022, and the most recent book, Clown in a Cornfield 3: The Chuch of Frendo, was published this past August.

Ginny & Georgia star Katie Douglas plays the lead role of Quinn. Additional cast members include Will Sasso, Kevin Durand, and Carson MacCormac. The film has received an R rating for bloody horror violence, a good indication that the movie will be just as wild as the book.

Craig shared the announcement via Instagram, thanking the cast and crew for helping him craft his latest horror movie and Cesare for writing a book that was "begging to [be] made into a bloody riot of a horror film."

Clown horror is all the rage

Scary clowns have been popular in media for a long time, perhaps most notably with the original interpretation of Stephen King's It starring Tim Curry as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. But we've seen killer clowns pop up in all kinds of horror media, from classics like Killer Klowns from Outer Space to modern hits like Damien Leone's Terrifier series featuring David Howard Thornton as Art the Clown.

There's also the updated take on It featuring Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise, and he will reprise his role in the upcoming prequel series Welcome to Derry, arriving next year on HBO. All of this is to say that Clown in a Cornfield and the titular antagonist, Frendo, will be amongst good company when the film hits theaters in 2025.

Clown in a Cornfield will be released in theaters May 9, 2025.