# Jeepers Creepers 3
**Jeepers Creepers 3** is a 2017 American horror film written and directed by [Victor Salva](https://www.edgepedia.org/victor-salva), the third installment of the Jeepers Creepers franchise that he created with the 2001 original. Chronologically it is an interquel (a work set between two earlier installments), taking place between *Jeepers Creepers* (2001) and *Jeepers Creepers 2* (2003), on the last day of the monster's twenty-three-day feeding cycle.[1](https://jeeperscreepers.fandom.com/wiki/Jeepers_Creepers_3) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jeepers_creepers_3)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | Limited theatrical release September 26, 2017, with an encore screening October 4; streaming and DVD/Blu-ray December 26, 2017[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jeepers_creepers_3) • [3](https://www.joblo.com/jeepers-creepers-3-wtf/) |
| Timeline placement | Set between the first and second films, during the Creeper's 23-day feeding frenzy[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jeepers_creepers_3) |
| Budget and box office | $6.2 million budget; $3.6–4.0 million worldwide gross[1](https://jeeperscreepers.fandom.com/wiki/Jeepers_Creepers_3) |
| Critical reception | 20% on the Tomatometer from 5 reviews; 28% on the Popcornmeter from 2,500+ audience ratings[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jeepers_creepers_3) |
| Key cast | Jonathan Breck as the Creeper, Stan Shaw as Sheriff Tashtego, Gabrielle Haugh, Brandon Smith as Sgt. Tubbs, Meg Foster, and Gina Philips returning as Trish Jenner[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jeepers_creepers_3/cast-and-crew) |
| Distributor | Screen Media Films; produced by Infinity Films and Myriad Pictures[1](https://jeeperscreepers.fandom.com/wiki/Jeepers_Creepers_3) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story takes place on the last day of the Creeper's twenty-three-day feeding frenzy. Sergeant Davis Tubbs assembles a task force of Creeper survivors determined to destroy the creature for good, while the monster terrorizes a local farming community and fights back as its enemies come closer than ever to learning the secret of its dark origins.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jeepers_creepers_3) • [5](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/jeepers-creepers-3/umc.cmc.44b9t6ejij6ncjoenmivmzc0r)
The human center of the story is Addison Brandon (Gabrielle Haugh), who lives with her grandmother Gaylen ([Meg Foster](https://www.edgepedia.org/meg-foster)) on a struggling farmstead; Gaylen's son Kenny was killed by the Creeper and appears to her in visions.[3](https://www.joblo.com/jeepers-creepers-3-wtf/) The task force, led by Sheriff Dan Tashtego ([Stan Shaw](https://www.edgepedia.org/stan-shaw)), travels in a truck-mounted chain gun, and the film expands the creature's mythology by giving its rusted truck the ability to drive itself and fire explosives.[3](https://www.joblo.com/jeepers-creepers-3-wtf/) A closing scene shows an older Trish Jenner, placing that moment roughly 23 years later, near the time of the second film's closing scene.[6](https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/132374/where-exactly-does-jeepers-creepers-3-fit-into-the-timeline-established-by-the-f)
## Development
**A decade in development.** Talk of a third film began soon after *Jeepers Creepers 2* (2003). By 2006 the project had a working title, *Jeepers Creepers 3: The Creeper Walks Among Us*, which MGM planned to release direct to video but could not fund.[3](https://www.joblo.com/jeepers-creepers-3-wtf/) In November 2007, ComingSoon reported that Salva was officially on board to write and direct for MGM, with a possible television series under discussion with MGM and [American Zoetrope](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-zoetrope); Salva described a script with an Old West prologue and returning characters from the first two films twenty years later.[7](https://www.comingsoon.net/horror/news/708212-confirmed-salva-writing-directing-jeepers-creepers-3) • [8](https://www.comingsoon.net/horror/news/708974-salva-talks-jeepers-creepers-3) In a 2011 interview Salva said pre-production had never really started despite coming close several times, and that the script had been written for about five years with a price tag of around 16 million dollars.[9](https://mediamikes.com/2011/09/interview-with-victor-salva/)
**Cathedral and the rewrite.** The project later carried the title *Jeepers Creepers 3: Cathedral*, with a story set 23 years after the first two films, following an older Trish Jenner, now rich and powerful, who teams with the Taggarts to end the Creeper's reign of terror.[1](https://jeeperscreepers.fandom.com/wiki/Jeepers_Creepers_3) In September 2015, Myriad Pictures announced the film would go into production, slated for Vancouver in the first quarter of 2016, with [Francis Ford Coppola](https://www.edgepedia.org/francis-ford-coppola) among the producers.[10](https://www.thewrap.com/jeepers-creepers-3-in-the-works-from-producer-francis-ford-coppola-and-director-victor-salva/) The script was ultimately rewritten as an interquel set between the original two films, because the [Cathedral](https://www.edgepedia.org/cathedral) story was by then more than a decade old; of the expected cast, only Trish remained, in a cameo.[1](https://jeeperscreepers.fandom.com/wiki/Jeepers_Creepers_3)
**Controversy and relocation.** Filming in Vancouver was halted after talent agencies, acting on a warning from the Union of British Columbia Performers, circulated Salva's 1988 conviction for sexual misconduct with a 12-year-old and urged actors not to audition. Production eventually began in 2017 in Louisiana, which more closely resembled the Florida setting of the first film.[3](https://www.joblo.com/jeepers-creepers-3-wtf/) A mention of child molestation in the finished film drew further criticism given the director's history.[11](https://www.thewrap.com/jeepers-creepers-3-victor-salva-child-molester-child-molestation-powder/)
## Release and reception
The film received a limited two-day theatrical release, on September 26, 2017 and an encore on October 4, grossing $2.3 million in the United States and $1.7 million in other territories for a worldwide total of about $4 million; it was the third-highest-grossing film in the United States on September 26, behind *Kingsman: The Golden Circle* and *It*. [Home video](https://www.edgepedia.org/home-video) followed on December 26, 2017.[3](https://www.joblo.com/jeepers-creepers-3-wtf/)
Critics were largely negative. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds 20% on the Tomatometer from 5 reviews and 28% on the Popcornmeter.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jeepers_creepers_3) IGN's Adam DiLeo gave it 2.5/10, calling it "an unremarkable entry in a cult favorite franchise" in which "the rest of the film crashes in the cornfields"; We Got This Covered gave it 3/10, finding it "lacking in imagination or genuine scares." Dread Central was the outlier at 3.5/5, writing that franchise fans "will be happy with this latest entry."[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jeepers_creepers_3) Reviewers frequently singled out Jonathan Breck's return as the Creeper, whose prosthetic work and physical performance were praised even in negative reviews.[12](https://www.highdefgeoff.com/blog/review-jeepers-creepers-3-2017) Common criticisms included weak characterization, visible low-budget CGI, an abrupt ending, and daylight scenes that reduced the monster's menace.[3](https://www.joblo.com/jeepers-creepers-3-wtf/) • [12](https://www.highdefgeoff.com/blog/review-jeepers-creepers-3-2017)
The film's Tomatometer score of 20% places it alongside *Jeepers Creepers 2* (23%) in Rotten Tomatoes' gallery of the most poorly reviewed movie trilogies, with a franchise average of 29%.[13](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/gallery/18-most-rotten-movie-trilogies-ever/)
## Aftermath
*Jeepers Creepers 3* was the last film in the series involving Victor Salva, who had a treatment in place for a fourth film that was not made with him. A reboot, *Jeepers Creepers: Reborn*, followed in 2022 from an entirely new production team as a "restart" of the franchise.[3](https://www.joblo.com/jeepers-creepers-3-wtf/)
## References
1. [Jeepers Creepers 3, Jeepers Creepers Wiki (Fandom)](https://jeeperscreepers.fandom.com/wiki/Jeepers_Creepers_3)
2. [Jeepers Creepers 3, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jeepers_creepers_3)
3. [Jeepers Creepers 3 (2017) – WTF Happened to This Horror Movie?, JoBlo](https://www.joblo.com/jeepers-creepers-3-wtf/)
4. [Jeepers Creepers 3: Full Cast & Crew, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jeepers_creepers_3/cast-and-crew)
5. [Jeepers Creepers 3, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/jeepers-creepers-3/umc.cmc.44b9t6ejij6ncjoenmivmzc0r)
6. [Where exactly does Jeepers Creepers 3 fit into the timeline?, Movies & TV Stack Exchange](https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/132374/where-exactly-does-jeepers-creepers-3-fit-into-the-timeline-established-by-the-f)
7. [Confirmed: Salva Writing & Directing Jeepers Creepers 3, ComingSoon.net](https://www.comingsoon.net/horror/news/708212-confirmed-salva-writing-directing-jeepers-creepers-3)
8. [Salva Talks Jeepers Creepers 3, ComingSoon.net](https://www.comingsoon.net/horror/news/708974-salva-talks-jeepers-creepers-3)
9. [Interview with Victor Salva, MediaMikes](https://mediamikes.com/2011/09/interview-with-victor-salva/)
10. ['Jeepers Creepers 3' in the Works From Producer Francis Ford Coppola and Director Victor Salva, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/jeepers-creepers-3-in-the-works-from-producer-francis-ford-coppola-and-director-victor-salva/)
11. ['Jeepers Creepers 3' Director Victor Salva, Convicted Child Molester, Wrote Child Molestation Into New Film, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/jeepers-creepers-3-victor-salva-child-molester-child-molestation-powder/)
12. [Review: "Jeepers Creepers 3" (2017), High Def Geoff](https://www.highdefgeoff.com/blog/review-jeepers-creepers-3-2017)
13. [18 Most Rotten Movie Trilogies Ever, Rotten Tomatoes Editorial](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/gallery/18-most-rotten-movie-trilogies-ever/)
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