DC's Clayface Tops Global Box Office Again With $43 Million 2nd No. 1 Weekend

Q: What terrifying scenes in Clayface shocked DC executives and completely rewrote the rules for comic book movies?

The scenes that reportedly shocked DC executives were the film’s most extreme body-horror set pieces, especially a mid-flight airplane bathroom sequence in which Matt Hagen, played by Tom Rhys Harries, tries to cut open his own eyelids as his face deteriorates during his transformation. Multiple reports and audience reactions point to that eyeball-surgery moment as the standout image people cannot shake. Viewers also highlighted close-up shots of facial mutilation, including an earlier attack in which Hagen’s face is slashed, as well as graphic surgery and transformation scenes involving melting skin, blades cutting through flesh, and the character’s body breaking down into grotesque new forms. Those moments appear to be what trade coverage meant when it said James Gunn and Peter Safran were visibly shocked by the movie’s gruesome material. Deadline reported the two executives even covered their faces during their first viewing. Reviewers have broadly described the film as DC’s first full-on body-horror comic-book movie, with practical effects and graphic gore playing a central role in its identity. As for “rewriting the rules,” that refers less to a single scene than to the film’s overall approach: an R-rated, villain-centered DC movie that leans heavily into Cronenberg-style body horror rather than standard superhero spectacle. That sharp genre pivot, combined with strong audience scores, is what has made *Clayface* stand out.

3 articles · Updated · Deadline · Oct 25

$43 million worldwide kept DC’s Clayface at No. 1 globally for a second straight weekend, led by a $24 million domestic debut and $19 million from 76 overseas markets.
A $44 million production budget and rare A- audience grade for a horror title helped offset an opening that came in just below the $45 million industry target.
Overseas, Clayface matched or beat Other Mommy in markets including the UK, Australia, France and Brazil, though it trailed in Mexico, Italy and Spain.
The weekend’s nearest challengers were Street Fighter with $16.8 million globally in its second frame and Laika’s Wildwood with a $14.3 million worldwide start.
The result extends a second consecutive global weekend win for the newly combined Paramount-Warner Bros group, with The Cat in the Hat positioned to give it another shot at No. 1 in early November.