DC Studios' R-rated body-horror entry Clayface arrives in theaters on Friday, October 23, marking the third theatrical release of James Gunn's DC Universe and its strangest bet yet: a supervillain origin story with no Batman in sight.
Directed by James Watkins from a script by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, the film stars Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, an actor disfigured after a run-in with the local mob — a Hollywood-tinged take on the shape-shifting Batman villain, according to Deadline. The production cost a reported $40–44 million, modest by superhero standards.
Tracking points to an opening in the $20–25 million range. Deadline's preview numbers have the film at about $3.5 million from Thursday previews, while Boxoffice Pro's weekend preview puts it at $25–30 million, ahead of its widest competition. Critics have been kinder than they were to June's Supergirl: Clayface sits at 75% on Rotten Tomatoes from 83 reviews.
The twist in this weekend's box office race is not another horror film. A24's documentary You Can See Everything, about Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, is expanding to roughly 2,600 theaters after a $15.6 million breakout debut, and Variety reports it could take the No. 1 spot if Clayface falters.
Whether the horror swing succeeds or not, Clayface is a statement of intent: smaller, genre-specific DC films instead of $200 million spectacles. The box office verdict starts this weekend.