Warner Bros. and DC Studios took the top spot at the North American box office this weekend as Clayface opened with $24 million. The Clayface box office debut came from 3,458 theaters in the United States and Canada, where the R-rated body horror film led the chart for the October 23 to 25 weekend. The result put a modestly budgeted comic book film ahead of a documentary that nearly caught it.
Directed by James Watkins, Clayface stars Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, an actor who agrees to an experimental procedure after his face is badly disfigured in an attack. The film cost about $44 million to make, a smaller sum than most superhero releases. It added $19 million from 76 international markets, giving it a $43 million start worldwide. Audiences gave it an A minus grade in CinemaScore exit polls.
Clayface box office numbers in detail
The Clayface box office opening landed near the low end of the range tracked before release, with earlier estimates placing it between $25 million and $35 million. The $24 million figure still left the film in first place, ahead of a crowded field. Per theater, the opening worked out to about $6,940. The audience grade suggests word of mouth could help the film in the Halloween period, when horror titles often hold up better than other genres.
The low budget changes the Clayface box office math for the release. A $44 million production cost means Clayface needs far less from theaters than a typical comic book tentpole, which can cost three or four times as much. The $43 million global start covers most of that production budget before home viewing and other revenue is counted. Theaters keep a share of ticket sales, so the film still has ground to cover, but its opening weekend left it in a workable position.
You Can See Everything chases Clayface box office lead
A24’s You Can See Everything finished second with $19.5 million in its second weekend, up from a $15.6 million debut. The documentary about Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, expanded from 855 theaters to 2,655. Its domestic total reached $45.1 million after two weekends, more than the Clayface box office opening itself. A second weekend increase of that size is rare for any film, and rarer still for a documentary.
The documentary runs close to three hours, which limits how many showings a theater can fit in a day. Its per theater average still beat Clayface for the weekend, according to reports on the weekend figures. The film follows the story of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, and awards season talk has begun to build around it. Its strong second weekend showed that audience interest in the subject kept growing after the first week.
Laika’s stop-motion feature Wildwood took third place with about $11 million from 2,718 theaters, topping earlier projections. Paramount’s Street Fighter placed fourth with $8.6 million, down 72 percent from its debut weekend. Black Bear’s Wicker rounded out the top five with $5.75 million. The top five together showed a weekend led by horror, a documentary and animation rather than a single dominant studio release.
What comes next for Clayface box office run
The next test for the Clayface box office run is its second weekend, when horror films often drop sharply after opening on fan demand. A strong CinemaScore grade has helped similar films hold their audience in past Halloween periods, but the film will face new releases and the end of the seasonal window. Its international rollout continues in markets that opened alongside North America, and further territories could add to the total in the weeks ahead.
For Warner Bros. and DC Studios, the Clayface box office result showed that a smaller horror title can lead a weekend without a tentpole budget. The studio has leaned on large franchise films in recent years, and Clayface was built at a fraction of that cost. Whether the film turns a profit will depend on how it holds in the coming weeks and how it performs when it reaches home viewing. The opening weekend gave it a start that keeps that question open.
The weekend closed with Clayface ahead of You Can See Everything by about $4.5 million, a gap that could narrow if the documentary keeps its pace. Both films will be watched closely next weekend, when the chart gets its next round of new releases. For now, the Clayface box office crown belongs to the DC horror film, and the documentary sits close behind it.