‘Clayface’ Opened Overseas at Half of What ‘Supergirl’ Managed, and That’s a Worrying Benchmark

DC Studios has spent 2026 learning hard lessons about how its brand travels overseas, and South Korea has been one of the toughest rooms. Superhero cinema simply does not fill theaters there the way it once did, a slide that has hit even well-received entries. The ‘Clayface’ South Korea box office debut has now given the studio its starkest data point yet.

The comparison that matters is a recent one. ‘Supergirl’ opened in Korea on June 24, landing at No. 2 on its first day with 34,939 admissions before collapsing to 14,328 the next day and sliding to fifth by day 3.

That film is already considered a cautionary tale. It closed its Korean run at 864,238 admissions, failing to reach 1 million and marking the weakest showing of any recent Superman-adjacent reboot, behind both 2013’s ‘Man of Steel’ at 2.18 million and 2016’s ‘Batman v Superman’ at 2.26 million.

Against that already-low bar, the new film came in dramatically lower. Figures circulating from Korean tracking show ‘Clayface’ debuting in third place on October 21 with just under 19,000 admissions, including early screenings, working out to roughly $132,000.

That means it sold a little over half of what ‘Supergirl’ managed on its opening day. For a market that measures success in tickets sold rather than revenue, the gap is difficult to spin.

The final trailer for DC’s ‘CLAYFACE’ has been released. In theaters on October 23. https://t.co/ecTMB97Sto

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 24, 2026

The screen count offers some context without excusing it. ‘Clayface’ played on 556 screens, compared to the 808 that ‘Supergirl’ opened on, though the per-screen reality still places it well behind.

The chart position tells its own story. ‘Clayface’ finished behind the Japanese animated title ‘Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island’, which led with 28,985 admissions, and local release ‘Paradise Lost’ at 20,625.

Korea isn’t an isolated case either. Reports indicate the film missed the top 5 in France and landed in seventh place in Italy, suggesting a broadly soft international rollout ahead of its domestic bow.

New posters for DC’s ‘CLAYFACE’. In theaters on October 23. https://t.co/2DA3HTeKUQ

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 7, 2026

The saving grace is budget. ‘Clayface’ was made for a reported $40 million, a fraction of the at least $170 million spent on ‘Supergirl’, which means the profitability math is far more forgiving.

Expectations were never set at blockbuster level. Boxoffice Pro noted that performance along the lines of mainstream DC hero movies isn’t expected or intended from an R-rated horror entry, framing its independence from the superhero brand as a potential advantage.

The film comes from director James Watkins, with Tom Rhys Harries in the title role alongside Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella and Eddie Marsan. With international numbers landing soft, the pressure shifts squarely to North America. Projections have ranged from $25 million to $30 million, though presale reporting has pointed toward something closer to $20 million.

The margin for error is thin. A Skydance insider reportedly set the expectation bluntly, saying the film better deliver, with the studio looking for profit rather than break-even. This also marks the first Warner Bros. release under Skydance ownership, which adds another layer of scrutiny to a film that was already carrying the weight of a rough year for the studio.

‘Clayface’ opens in North America on October 23, where it faces unexpected competition from A24’s documentary ‘You Can See Everything’. Whether the body horror angle plays better with domestic audiences than it has abroad is now the only question that counts.

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