‘Clayface’ Lands a Strong Letterboxd Debut, and It Could Be Good News for DC’s Horror Bet
DC Studios has had a bruising year at the box office. ‘Supergirl’ opened to roughly $37 million domestically, earned a rotten 57% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed $126.4 million worldwide against a budget of $170 million to $186 million. That backdrop makes the arrival of ‘Clayface’ feel like a test of whether the DCU can bounce back with a smaller, stranger idea.
The film is James Gunn and Peter Safran’s third theatrical release, and the studio’s first full-on horror movie. Directed by James Watkins from a script by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, it stars Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, an actor disfigured by a crime boss who turns to an experimental treatment that transforms his body into clay. It’s rated R for strong bloody violence, gore, language, some nudity and brief drug use, and it arrives in theaters Friday, Oct. 23, with a reported budget of just $40 million.
Now the first audience score is in. ‘Clayface‘ has debuted with a 3.7 out of 5 average on Letterboxd, a number that analysts are already treating as an encouraging sign that word of mouth could help the film this weekend.
The comparison is what makes the number interesting. A 3.7 would put ‘Clayface’ behind only ‘The Batman’ (4.1) and ‘Superman’ (3.8) among DC films released this decade. That’s a flattering spot for a supervillain spinoff built around one of Batman’s lesser-known rogues.
The individual ratings show strong but not unanimous praise. One of the first reviews was a 4 out of 5 after the Los Angeles premiere on Oct. 13, while another viewer gave 4.5 stars and said Gotham has never felt so gloomy and disturbing. Others were more measured, which is exactly the spread you’d expect from a score in the high 3s.
There are good reasons to be careful. The early Letterboxd ratings come mostly from premiere audiences and people who attended advance screenings, and Warner Bros. lifted the social media embargo on Oct. 13, about 10 days before release, which is among the earliest in the DCU. The same strategy preceded ‘Supergirl,’ whose first wave of impressions was strongly positive before the full reviews landed far lower.
Critics have not been unanimous either. ComicBookMovie’s Josh Wilding posted the first Rotten Tomatoes review, a 2.5 out of 5 that described the film as a ‘Morbius’ moment for DC, though it was later pulled from the site because of a dispute over embargo timing. Other early reactions praised the body horror and Harries’ performance, compared it to ‘The Fly’ and ‘Darkman,’ and called it a hard R standout, while one critic called the story and some strange choices an odd third entry for a DCU still finding its identity. The full review embargo is set to lift Oct. 21, so the first official Tomatometer score is imminent. One prediction market had forecast a Fresh score in the mid-70s.
Watch the first trailer for #Clayface. The new DC horror film is in theaters October 23. https://t.co/gqrrtJSou5
— Rotten Tomatoes 🍅 (@RottenTomatoes) April 22, 2026
The financial outlook is more mixed than the Letterboxd score suggests. Boxoffice Pro’s tracking has the film opening to $23 million to $33 million domestically, which compares with ‘Supergirl’s opening of about $37 million and ‘Superman’s $125 million debut. Early pre-sale data, however, has been softer, with one analyst reporting that tickets are about 66% behind ‘Supergirl’ at the same point and pointing to an opening below $20 million.
Greenlight Analytics offered a more positive angle in the summer. Only 32% of those surveyed knew about ‘Clayface,’ but among those who did, 21% said they planned to see it opening weekend. With a reported $40 million budget and an estimated $30 million marketing spend, the film needs roughly $100 million worldwide to break even, a far lower bar than its predecessors.
That is why a strong audience score matters so much. Horror films tend to be front-loaded and driven by late ticket buyers, so a warm reception could lift walk-up sales across Halloween week. ‘Clayface’ is also the last DC release until ‘Man of Tomorrow’ arrives next July, which puts extra weight on this single weekend.
The Letterboxd number won’t decide the film’s fate, but it is the first hard evidence that audiences are responding to the body horror and to Harries’ performance. The full critical verdict arrives within hours, and the box office numbers will follow by Sunday.
Does ‘Clayface’s’ Strong Letterboxd Score Make You More Likely to Watch It?
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