Clayface box office: $43M opening, a win or a miss?

Clayface is making some money, and it looks like it's going to do okay. The DC horror film opened to $43 million worldwide, enough to give the newly merged Warner Bros. its second straight number one weekend at the global box office. It looks like the strategy of making something on a lower budget, in a different genre, to capture an audience just outside of DC could have paid off.

Clayface (2026) stars Tom Rhys Harries, Naomi Ackie and Max Minghella. Below is how the opening breaks down, how it compares with the competition, and a split verdict on whether this counts as a win or a big win, followed by a frank take on the movie itself.

Deadline Reports Clayface Opened Under Its $45 Million Hope but Solid for Its Budget

Anthony D'Alessandro at Deadline reports that DC's Clayface earned $43 million worldwide, delivering back to back number one weekends for the combined Warner Bros. He writes that the global opening is under the $45 million it had hoped for, but still solid for a feature costing $44 million before prints and advertising, especially given its excellent audience exits. The film earned an A minus CinemaScore, which Deadline calls one of the few earned by horror titles, alongside Get Out, Weapons and Obsession.

The same report says DC bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran reportedly covered their faces after seeing Clayface for the first time, scared by the gross scenes, and that this is what fans and moviegoers are responding to. Deadline also expects Warner Bros. animation's The Cat in the Hat to bring Skydance back to number one over the first frame in November.

In pure dollars, the report notes, the global opening isn't far from what Other Mommy from Blumhouse and Atomic Monster did a few weeks earlier: a $45 million start, but across 50 territories. Other Mommy's foreign start was $17.8 million, while Clayface took $19 million from 76 markets. Domestically, Clayface was number one with $24 million, ahead of A24's documentary You Can See Everything, which doesn't start opening abroad until November 12 in Australia, followed by the UK on November 20. Deadline adds that Clayface's territory grosses exceeded or met Other Mommy's first weekend in the UK, Australia, France and Brazil, and that in Italy it beat Supergirl's first weekend.

The Rest of the Box Office: Street Fighter, Wicker and Other Mommy

The wider chart came up too. Street Fighter sits at $79 million worldwide so far, but it dropped pretty dramatically into third place. Wicker came up as doing well. Fall had a pretty big drop and was called a fail, and the same was said of Other Mommy.

Clayface Made Its Production Budget Back, but $100 Million Is the Bar

The first read in the discussion was that if you're DC, Warner Bros. and Skydance, you're happy. The more measured version: happy for the first weekend, happy that the production budget came back, and happy with positive scores. The scores were given, with an "I think" attached, as 75% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 94% audience score, so all of those things trend positive.

The second weekend is where word of mouth kicks in, and Halloween should help people want to see a scary movie. If that drop isn't too steep compared with other superhero or villain films, that's a positive overall. Other Mommy started out positively but had negative criticism and word of mouth, which was offered as the likely reason it dropped. The view was that Clayface has to at least hit $100 million to be considered profitable or a success, using the standard two and a half times budget rule.

There's a sharper version of that argument too. It's not a win to not lose money when you're DC. Imagine if Zack Snyder made $45 million on a $45 million budget: people would lose their minds. The way people are talking, it was argued, they're acting like it's The Mandalorian and Grogu, where as long as it makes its budget back, that's what's important, when this film has much more to do than that.

Why Clayface Was Called a Big Win for DC

The other side argued this is a big win for DC. Clayface is a smaller, standalone story starring a villain no one really knows, with an unknown actor in the lead. Sure, it's part of the DCU and Gotham is in it, but it wasn't marketed off Superman, Supergirl or Lanterns. The first win is that it's not a bomb. Superman needed to do well and did. Supergirl did badly. Lanterns was described as divisive, with an "I think" attached, but did well for TV, though it was noted its viewership numbers have been adjusted and it got review bombed over its subject.

If Clayface had been another bomb, the story would have been that DC is failing again. Because of the smaller budget, even breaking even means no one says it's in trouble, and "everything rests on the shoulders of Man of Tomorrow." Clayface does what it was supposed to do and hands off. The bigger win, in this argument, is that the audience that went to see it really enjoyed it. The people the movie was aimed at showed up, which doesn't always happen; the people they wanted for Supergirl didn't go.

On The Mandalorian and Grogu comparison, the counter was that the positive audience feedback wasn't there for that film. The lower budget genre approach takes weight off the studio, avoiding a headline about a $40 million movie that barely broke $8 million. The debate settled with "But a win I'll give you," while a big win would come if it makes $100 million or more.

Clayface's Competition: Godzilla Minus Zero and Ramayana Part One

Nothing new comes out against it in its second week, with The Cat in the Hat coming next. Godzilla Minus Zero follows on November 6. There's love in the discussion for Godzilla Minus Zero and Godzilla Minus One, but also a reminder not to pretend Minus One made hand over fist money the first time. Wild Horse Nine and Ramayana Part One were also mentioned.

Without competition in the horror space and with Halloween around the corner, it was suggested Clayface could keep trundling along, with people deciding they heard it wasn't bad and want to see some body horror. That was called very possible.

The Case Against Clayface: Two Scripts and No Chemistry

Asked whether the movie was any good, the answer in the discussion was no. The main lead was good, but it felt like two scripts smashed together, because some of the dialogue and logic makes no sense. He had no chemistry with Naomi Ackie, who seemed half in and half out of the movie. Max Minghella was called wasted, though the other view was that he was great in it, and his role as the Winklevoss twins' friend in The Social Network came up. The manager and agent material was called cheesy, as was the best friend material, and the actor playing the best friend was felt to be miscast.

The core criticism: "there's a really good dark film underneath this film," one exploring the perils of fame and the pressure to look a certain way, especially with everyone on Ozempic. Flanagan's script pops through in the darker moments. But the film builds him up as a good guy who scratched his way to the top, was humbled by a nomination, gave back to his community and encouraged kids to pursue their dreams. That makes it hard to believe he turns evil, and the lack of chemistry with the woman, one of the biggest reasons he turns, erodes that. Still, the club scene and the plane scene were called a lot of fun.

The Case For Clayface: A '90s Showtime Movie With a Darker DC Tone

The other take agreed every one of those criticisms was valid: plot holes, no chemistry, and some of her decisions made her less likable. But going in without expectations, it was enjoyable, like stumbling on something on Showtime in 1993 or 1996, with a vibe likened to the Dolph Lundgren Punisher meets The Fly and an old school '90s level of quality. Had it been made for $70 million or $80 million, it would have been a head scratcher; for $30 million to $40 million, it could keep going.

Both views were treated as valid: wanting more from the third DC film isn't wrong, and enjoying a fun movie isn't wrong either. Then came what was billed as the craziest take: of the three DC films released in theaters, this was the most enjoyable to sit through, even though Superman is the better made film. That preference comes from liking a darker DC, including Man of Steel and the darker tones in Lanterns. The response was a love for Superman and a wish that the darker element had been a bigger part of Clayface, because even the gross body horror didn't gross out that much.