‘Clayface’ Is Showing Staying Power at the Box Office as DC’s Horror Bet Pays Off

DC Studios took a big swing with ‘Clayface’. The R-rated body horror film was made for a reported $44 million, a fraction of what the DC Universe spent on ‘Superman’, which reportedly cost $225 million, and ‘Supergirl’, which cost between $170 million and $186 million.

Directed by James Watkins from a screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, the film opened on October 23. Its $24 million domestic debut was the lowest opening of any DC Universe film, which led some fans to doubt its chances.

‘Clayface’ may now be proving those early doubts wrong. According to box office analyst Luiz Fernando, the film earned about $1.2 million on its second Monday in the United States, down just 46.4% from its first Monday.

Fernando credited positive word of mouth for the performance. He noted that ‘Clayface’ has outgrossed the daily numbers for ‘Supergirl’ since last Friday, even though ‘Supergirl’ earned $1.1 million on its own second Monday as a PG-13 superhero film during the peak summer season.

Positive WOM keeps benefiting #DCStudios’s R-rated film #Clayface at US #BoxOffice! #DCU’s first body horror starring #TomRhysHarries grossed solid 1.2M on 2nd MON! Solid legs, just a -46.4% drop from first MON (vs #KravenTheHunter’s 590k*, -28%, #OtherMommy’s 706k, -75.4%, #TheExorcistBeliever 930k, -60.9%, #BlackPhone2’s 1M, -52.5%, #BirdsOfPrey’s 2.5M*, +17%, #Smile’s 2.7M*, +21.1%) *holiday boosted Since last FRI, #Clayface is also outgrossing the dailies of #SUPERGIRL, which had a 1.1M, -60.9% 2nd MON and that one was again a 4 Quadrant PG-13 CBM playing during peak SUMMER time. The CBM Horror, carrying a 44M production price-tag not including marketing, hits a 45.9M cume in the U.S. alone. Eyeing a 65M-75M run in the US!
— Luiz Fernando (@Luiz_Fernando_J) November 3, 2026

According to his figures, the film has reached about $45.9 million domestically. Fernando is projecting a final domestic run of $65 million to $75 million. The film’s second weekend also suggested strong staying power. It earned an estimated $10.4 million domestically over the Halloween weekend, finishing just behind A24’s ‘You Can See Everything’.

Screen Rant reported a second-weekend drop of about 57%. That was steeper than the drop for ‘Superman’, but far better than the 76.8% decline ‘Supergirl’ suffered in its second weekend.

The film’s word of mouth appears to be doing much of the work. ‘Clayface’ earned an A- CinemaScore from audiences, a strong grade for a horror film. Critics have been more mixed but generally positive. The film is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a 75% score from 83 reviews, while its Metacritic score sits at 59.

Some reviews praised Tom Rhys Harries’ lead performance and the film’s body horror. Others found it less memorable, but early audience reactions have been largely enthusiastic.

The final trailer for DC’s ‘CLAYFACE’ has been released. In theaters on October 23. https://t.co/ecTMB97Sto
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 24, 2026

Harries stars as Matt Hagen, a rising movie star whose face is brutally disfigured by a local mob boss. He volunteers as a test subject for a procedure meant to restore his face, but the treatment turns his body into living clay and slowly erodes his sanity.

Naomi Ackie plays Dr. Caitlyn Corr, a fringe scientist and Matt’s love interest, while Max Minghella plays Gotham City police detective John Borrelli. David Dencik and Eddie Marsan also appear.

Matt Reeves, Lynn Harris, James Gunn and Peter Safran produced the film. Warner Bros. originally set it for September before moving it to October to take advantage of the Halloween season.

The film earned about $43 million worldwide in its opening weekend, including roughly $19 million internationally. It passed $61.8 million worldwide by the end of its first full week. Several outlets estimate that the film needs about $110 million worldwide to break even, based on the common rule that a film must earn around 2.5 times its budget.

With its strong holds and low cost, ‘Clayface’ could reach that mark. That would be a welcome win for Warner Bros., which has dealt with several disappointments this year. It could also show that smaller, genre-driven projects have a place in the DC Universe.