Clown in a Cornfield (2025) Horror Thriller Mystery Comedy

Clown in a Cornfield (2025) Movie Release Dates / Movie Details

Updated: August 28, 2025

Clown in a Cornfield Plot Synopsis:

Quinn Maybrook and her father have moved to tiny, boring Kettle Springs, to find a fresh start, But what they don't know is that ever since the Baypen Corn Syrup Factory shut down, Kettle Springs has cracked in half. On one side are the adults, who are desperate to make Kettle Springs great again, and on the other are the kids, who want to have fun, make prank videos, and get out as quick as they can. Kettle Springs is caught in a battle between old and new, tradition and progress. It's a fight that looks like it will destroy the town. Until Frendo, the Baypen mascot, a creepy clown goes homicidal and decides that the only way for Kettle Springs to grow back is to cull the rotten crop of kids who live there now." Synopsis from Bloody Disgusting

Synopsis / Plot Summary: Quinn Maybrook and her father have moved to tiny, boring Kettle Springs, to find a fresh start, But what they don"t know is that ever since the Baypen Corn Syrup Factory shut down, Kettle Springs has cracked in half. On one side are the adults, who are desperate to make Kettle Springs great again, and on the other are the kids, who want to have fun, make prank videos, and get out as quick as they can. Kettle Springs is caught in a battle between old and new, tradition and progress. It"s a fight that looks like it will destroy the town. Until Frendo, the Baypen mascot, a creepy clown goes homicidal and decides that the only way for Kettle Springs to grow back is to cull the rotten crop of kids who live there now.

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.

CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD Available on 4K UHD Steelbook on September 9th, 2025

RLJE Films, a business unit of AMC Networks along with Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium service for horror, thriller and the supernatural, will release the acclaimed horror film, CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD, on 4K UHD Steelbook on September 9, 2025. It will be available for an SRP of $39.99.

CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD stars Katie Douglas (“Ginny & Georgia”), Carson MacCormac (Shazam!), Aaron Abrams (“Blindspot”), Will Sasso (The Three Stooges), and Kevin Durand (Kingdom of the Planet Apes). Directed by Eli Craig (Tucker and Dale vs Evil), he co-wrote the film with Carter Blanchard. The film is based on the Bram Stoker award-winning novel of the same name by Adam Cesare.

In CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD, Quinn (Katie Douglas) and her father (Aaron Abrams) 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.

The Steelbook bonus features include filmmaker commentary and limited-edition magnets featuring a "Pop Out" Frendo and his weapons.

Press Release

IFC Entertainment Group had its biggest opening weekend box office success ever with the release of Eli Craig’s CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD, which grossed $3.6 million at the U.S. box office. The RLJE / Shudder film, which opened as the #1 new film in the US and 5th overall, lands the Group’s RLJE division its highest grosser to date and the Group’s widest theatrical opening, on 2,277 screens.

CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD’s opening weekend broke records for IFC Entertainment Group, surpassing its 2024 success LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL’s box office opening of $2.8 million, and IN A VIOLENT NATURE’s theatrical opening with 1,496 theaters last year.

“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,” said Head of IFC Entertainment Group’s Scott Shooman. “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. 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.”

Based on the Bram Stoker Award-winning horror novel by Adam Cesare, CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD is from Temple Hill Entertainment, the production team behind smash hit SMILE, and stars Katie Douglas (GINNY & GEORGIA), Carson MacCormac (SHAZAM!), Aaron Abrams (HANNIBAL), Will Sasso (THE THREE STOOGES) and Kevin Durand (ABIGAIL). The film made its World Premiere at SXSW in March and is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

The success of CLOWN comes on the heels of IFC Entertainment Group’s recently-announced brand refresh, which formalized the integrated structure of AMC Networks’ four distinct film verticals -- Independent Film Company, IFC Center, RLJE, and the premiere horror streamer Shudder.

Upcoming 2025 titles for the IFC Entertainment Group include Sean Byrne’s thriller DANGEROUS ANIMALS, which will debut as part of Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight later this week, and Jay Duplass’s SXSW Audience Award-winning film THE BALTIMORONS.

RLJE Films and Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural, announced today that they have snagged the U.S. rights to Eli Craig’s (TUCKER & DAVE VS. EVIL, LITTLE EVIL) CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD, based on the Bram Stoker Award-winning horror novel by Adam Cesare. From Temple Hill Entertainment, the production team behind smash hit SMILE, the film stars Katie Douglas (GINNY & GEORGIA), Carson MacCormac (SHAZAM!), Aaron Abrams (HANNIBAL), Will Sasso (THE THREE STOOGES), and Kevin Durand (ABIGAIL). RLJE Films will release the film wide theatrically on May 9, 2025.

Adapted to a screenplay by Carter Blanchard and Craig, CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD follows Quinn (Douglas) and her father (Abrams), who 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.

“Adam Cesare’s ‘Clown’ series has been on my radar for some time now, and we are pumped to bring Eli Craig’s harrowing, savage, heart-pounding adaptation to the big screen in 2025,” said RLJE Films" Chief Acquisition Officer Mark Ward.

Said Director Eli Craig, "I’m thrilled to partner with RLJE Films and Shudder to release this insanely fun action, horror, comedy where we always wanted it to be seen — in theaters! As always in my movies, there’s a deeper theme about the collision of perspectives and ideals that leads to utter mayhem. It was fun in this one, however, to let the horror thrills take the lead, while the comedic absurdity that I can’t help but see in life brings a bit of levity."

HarperCollins published Cesare’s novel ‘Clown in Cornfield’ in 2020, followed by the second book in the franchise, ‘Clown in a Cornfield II: Frendo Lives’ in 2022. ‘Clown in a Cornfield III: The Church of Frendo,’ had its debut in August 2024 and has since become a USA Today Bestseller.

CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD is produced by Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner, and John Fischer for Temple Hill and Paris Kassidokostas-Latsis and Terry Dougas for Rhea Films, and executive produced by Jean-Luc De Fanti, Max Work and Kostas Tsoukalas for Rhea Films, Petersen Harris and George Berman for Temple Hill, Dave Bishop and George Hamilton for Protagonist Pictures, Daniel Bekerman for Scythia Films Inc., Myron John Tataryn for Thundersnow Pictures, and Carter Blanchard. The film is a Rhea Films Production as well as a Temple Hill Production and was financed by Hercules Film Fund.

The deal was negotiated by Mark Ward on behalf of RLJE Films and Shudder and Hal Sadoff and Lina Marrone on behalf of the filmmakers. International rights are being handled by Protagonist Pictures.

Clown in a Cornfield Movie Information:

Whistle (2025), Forgive Us All (2025), Hell House LLC: Lineage (2025), 28 Years Later: The Bone… (2026), 28 Years Later (2025), We Bury the Dead (2024), Strange Harvest: Occult Murder… (2024), Bring Her Back (2025), Parvulos (2024), and ZombieCON Vol. 1 (2024)

Check Out the Best Horror Movies of 2026 You Must See!

Check out more movies that start with C and movies from 2025. Also, you can find more thriller movies that start with C.

Browse Horror Movies 2026 / New Horror Movies Coming Soon

Clown in a Cornfield (2025) Cast (Click to Expand)

Fun Facts: 15 Real AGES of Cast

Source: IMDB, Metacritic, Rotten Tomatoes, HellHorror.com fans like you!