‘Clayface’ Holds Strong on Monday as DC’s R-Rated Horror Film Posts a Smaller Drop Than Most Genre Rivals

It has been a bumpy year for DC Studios at the box office. ‘Superman’ was a hit in 2025, but ‘Supergirl’ this summer was widely described as a disappointment, grossing roughly $126.4 million worldwide. Against that backdrop, every new DCU release is being watched closely.

The latest is ‘Clayface‘, an R-rated body horror film starring Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, directed by James Watkins from a story by Mike Flanagan. It is the third theatrical entry in the DCU, and it was made for a reported $44 million, a fraction of what most comic book films cost. That lower price tag has changed the conversation around what counts as success.

Now the first Monday numbers are in, and they suggest word of mouth is doing its job. ‘Clayface’ grossed an estimated $2.3 million on its first Monday, a drop of just 58.9% from Sunday, while holding the No. 1 spot at the US box office. Its domestic total after 4 days stands at $26.3 million.

Positive WOM already doing its thing for #DCStudios’s R-rated #Clayface, holding #1 at US #BoxOffice, after #DCU’s first body horror film, starring #TomRhysHarries, grossed 2.3M on first MON, just a -58.9% drop from SUN (vs #KravenTheHunter’s 821k, -66.5%, #BlackPhone2’s 2.1M, -67.8%, #Smile 2.2M, -61.8%, #BirdsOfPrey’s 2.2M, -72.5%, #TheExorcistBeliever 2.4M*, -57.8%, #OtherMommy’s 2.9M*, -54.5%) *holiday boosted MON The CBM Horror carrying a 44M production price-tag not including marketing hits a 26.3M cume in the U.S. alone, in just 4 days.

— Luiz Fernando (@Luiz_Fernando_J) October 27, 2026

Those figures look good next to other genre releases on their first Monday. ‘Kraven the Hunter’ dropped 66.5%, ‘Black Phone 2’ fell 67.8%, ‘Smile’ slid 61.8% and ‘Birds of Prey’ declined 72.5%. ‘Clayface’ held up better than all of them, though ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ (down 57.8%) and ‘Other Mommy’ (down 54.5%) held slightly better.

There is a caveat. The analysis notes that the Monday was boosted by a holiday, so the comparison is not perfectly clean. Still, the retention supports the idea that audiences who saw the film enjoyed it. For a horror release, that is an encouraging sign.

Over its opening weekend, ‘Clayface’ earned an estimated $24 million domestically from 3,458 theaters and $19 million internationally, for a global total of $43 million. That was just under tracking, which had projected between $25 million and $30 million. Opening day, including Thursday previews of $3.5 million, came to $10.4 million.

Audience reaction has been strong. ‘Clayface’ earned an A- CinemaScore, a grade horror films rarely receive, along with a 4.5 out of 5 on PostTrak. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds roughly a 75% critics score and a 94% audience score. James Gunn publicly celebrated the CinemaScore, saying he is proud of the film.

The opening is the lowest global debut for any DCU installment, but it also comes with by far the smallest budget. After 3 days, the film was about $1 million short of its reported production cost, the closest any DCU movie has come to earning its budget back in an opening weekend. That is before marketing costs and the studio’s share of ticket sales, which means profitability still depends on the weeks ahead.

The next weekend brings the first Saturday Halloween since 2020, a calendar quirk that could help a horror release. ‘Clayface’ enters the stretch as the No. 1 film in the country, though it faces a crowded field of wide horror releases. Strong word of mouth and a modest second-weekend drop would put it on solid financial footing.

Competition is also unusual. A24’s Elizabeth Holmes documentary ‘You Can See Everything’ held on strongly with $19.5 million in its second weekend, a 25% increase on its opening. That means ‘Clayface’ narrowly won the weekend despite a modest start.

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 film also arrives just after Gunn’s comments about the DCU’s approach to standalone stories. He has argued that individual projects don’t need to exist only to set up crossovers, and ‘Clayface’ offers a test case. If audiences keep turning out, it supports the case that a distinct, lower-budget genre film can thrive within a larger universe.

For a franchise looking for good news, a solid hold on a first Monday counts as a step in the right direction. The real answer will come when the Halloween weekend numbers arrive.

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