DC’s Clayface gets some troubling box office projections ahead of opening weekend

DC Studios has had something of a back-and-forth year. The once-undefeated DC Universe franchise suffered its first high-profile loss this summer when Supergirl massively underperformed at the box office, barely grossing a sixth of what Superman made the previous summer. On the other hand, HBO series Lanterns received critical acclaim and record-breaking viewing figures, reminding us all that this franchise still has a lot of life left in it.

Next up is Clayface. Based on the infamous Batman villain, the upcoming body horror stars Tom Rhys-Harries in the titular role and it is directed by James Watkins. The DC Comics villain isn’t as well-known to general audiences as Supergirl is, so the question is: Can it give the DCU the win that the Girl of Steel’s film could not?

Clayface’s unexpected opening weekend box office battle

As it stands, Clayface is currently tracking for an opening weekend at the domestic box office of $15 – $20 million (previous projections had it higher at around $23 – $33 million). Somewhere in between seems likely, but a number of new factors could see it ending up going one way or the other. As Deadline reports, presales for Clayface have picked up in recent days, suggesting that it might ultimately work in its favor come the weekend, but it faces unexpectedly stiff competition from Nathan Felder’s experimental meta-documentary film You Can See Everything.

That one overperformed in its opening weekend, pulling in $15.6 million and continuing to perform well through the week, pushing current champion Street Fighter to the No. 2 spot on Monday with an impressive $2.5 million. So franchise fare is facing a steep battle against the doc, so if it holds the momentum, it could take down Clayface before The Dark Knight ever swoops in to battle (something that he doesn’t do in the upcoming movie as he has not yet been cast in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU as of yet).

There are plenty of silver linings for Clayface here. The budget is a modest $30 million (down considerably over the previously reported $40 million) which automatically puts it in a much healthier position than the $160 million-budgeted Supergirl. There isn’t the same pressure on it to succeed that we saw with the Girl of Steel’s summer blockbuster, so it should be easier for it to that – especially on such a low budget for a studio movie spun out of a superhero franchise.

Clayface is also expected to bring in another $15 – $25 million internationally, which would help it earn back its budget right out of the gate. That would be the first part of the battle down, putting it directly on the path to breaking even – something that Supergirl very clearly wasn’t going to do after just its opening weekend.

It’s also hoped that Clayface will have some legs over the course over the next few weeks, and there is good reason for that. Low-budget horror has made a huge comeback this year, with Obsession and Backrooms overperforming to such an extent that they managed to outgross the lifetime gross of Star Wars movie The Mandalorian and Grogu. They didn’t come out of the gate with those numbers but slowly, quietly, effectively built them up over time due to the buzz surrounding them. Considering that Clayface isn’t a mainstream DC superhero movie, there’s real potential that horror fans could get behind this one. And with the spooky season coming up, it would be a great time for that to happen!

The DC Studios movie sees burgeoning actor Matt Hagan attacked and disfigured by a Gotham City mob boss, leading to him turning to a new cosmetic trial that is supposedly able to restore his signature looks. However, it also has disastrous side effects, turning him into the legendary Batman villain from the comics.

Clayface arrives in movie theaters on October 23, 2026.

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