‘Clayface’ Keeps Its Grip on the Box Office as Word of Mouth Helps DC’s R-Rated Horror Hold Up

Superhero fatigue is a constant theme in Hollywood, but DC Studios is trying to beat it with something very different. ‘Clayface‘ trades capes and spectacle for body horror, an R rating and a modest budget. Two weeks into its run, the strategy is starting to look more promising than the headlines suggested.

The film, directed by James Watkins from a script by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, stars Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, a Hollywood hopeful whose life collapses after a crime boss leaves him disfigured. Naomi Ackie co-stars as a scientist tied to the experimental treatment that turns him into living clay. It is the third film in the DC Universe, and it carries an R rating for strong bloody violence, gore, language, some nudity and brief drug use.

Now the weekday numbers are drawing attention. Box office tracking shows ‘Clayface’ earning about $1.2 million on its second Monday, a drop of 46.4% from the first Monday. That is a sturdier hold than several horror rivals, including ‘Other Mommy’ at -75.4%, ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ at -60.9% and ‘Black Phone 2’ at -52.5%, according to the same comparison. It has also been running ahead of the daily grosses of ‘Supergirl’ over the same stretch.

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

The weekend picture is more complicated. ‘Clayface’ opened at No. 1 on October 23 with an estimated $24.5 million from 3,458 theaters, slightly below the studio’s projection of $25 million to $30 million. It earned an A- CinemaScore, which is rare for horror.

On Halloween weekend, the film fell 57% to about $10.4 million and finished second, just $200,684 behind A24’s Elizabeth Holmes documentary ‘You Can See Everything’. That weekend was one of the year’s slowest, with Halloween pulling audiences away on Saturday. The domestic total after the second weekend stood at $44.1 million, which matches its reported production budget.

Since then, the weekday strength has pushed the total higher, and the tracking puts the domestic cumulative at roughly $45.9 million. The same analysis suggests a final U.S. run of $65 million to $75 million. Another analyst had projected about $65 million, so the range looks consistent.

Audience reception is the film’s biggest asset. On Rotten Tomatoes, ‘Clayface’ holds a 94% audience score, while critics give it 75%, enough for a Certified Fresh badge. Metacritic sits at 59, which points to a more divided critical field.

James Gunn noted that the A- puts it in rare company, since ‘Sinners’ is the only horror film to have received an A, while ‘Obsession’, ‘Weapons’ and now ‘Clayface’ have earned an A-. The film also ran a very light advertising campaign, with a small national TV presence, which makes the audience response even more notable. Strong word of mouth is evidently doing much of the marketing.

Reviews have been split in an interesting way. Critics largely agree that Harries is excellent in his first major lead role and that the practical effects are gleefully gruesome. The disagreement is over whether that is enough, with some reviewers calling the script and tone uneven and others praising it as a great body-horror movie.

Money is the other part of the story. The film cost a reported $44 million before marketing, a fraction of what most comic book films cost. Worldwide, it has grossed about $83 million, and analysts generally put its break-even at around $110 million globally.

Projections for the full run have reached as high as $130 million if its legs hold. That would make it a comfortable, if not spectacular, success for a studio that needs one. ‘Supergirl’ opened to roughly $68 million in June and was widely viewed as falling short, and its Rotten Tomatoes score of 52% trailed ‘Clayface’.

It is not all smooth sailing. The second-weekend drop was steep, and a few outlets framed it as a stumble. The weekday holds suggest the fall may be flattening, but the final total will depend on how the film fares as new releases arrive.

For Gunn and DC Studios, ‘Clayface’ is an experiment in what a smaller, genre-driven superhero film can do. A lower budget reduces risk, and an R-rated horror lane gives the universe a different texture. If the film breaks even and builds goodwill, it could encourage more mid-budget projects.

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

There is also a streaming angle, since Warner Bros. had not announced an HBO Max date as of late October. A healthy theatrical run will matter for how the film is positioned after that. For now, the numbers are good enough to keep the conversation positive.

It also shows how much audience word of mouth can matter in a crowded fall calendar. A strong second Monday and a hot Discount Tuesday suggest that people who see ‘Clayface’ are telling others to go.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!