UPDATED · Oct 23, 2026
Update, October 23, 2026: Deadline now says Clayface’s Thursday previews came in at exactly $3.5M and forecasts a $20M to $25M domestic opening, with A24’s You Can See Everything as its main rival for No. 1. Fan-posted overseas numbers still show it trailing Supergirl, and a claim that it beat Supergirl in South Korea does not hold up.
DC’s R-rated body horror Clayface earned $3.5M from Thursday previews, Deadline confirmed Friday morning. That is nearly triple the $1.2M Digger managed. Deadline forecasts a $20M to $25M domestic weekend, but early fan-posted overseas figures look much shakier.
What we know
Clayface, the third DCU film, is directed by James Watkins from a script credited to Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini. It opened in North America on October 23, 2026. Previews began Thursday at 2 p.m. Deadline first estimated $3.5M, then updated Friday to say the total landed right there. Variety reports the same figure.
Deadline’s comparison titles put that in context. Digger did $1.2M in previews on the way to an $8M opening. Kraven the Hunter did $2M and $11M, Smile did $2M and $22.6M, Other Mommy did $3.6M and $27.8M, and Birds of Prey did $4M and $33M.
Deadline forecasts $20M to $25M from about 3,400 sites. That would give the newly combined Paramount-Warner Bros. a second straight No. 1 opener after Street Fighter, which Deadline says opened to $31M on October 16 to 18 and reached $38.3M in its first week. Variety is more bullish at $25M to $35M domestic, noting rival estimates of $22M to $28M. It projects $20M to $25M overseas from 76 markets, for a $45M to $55M global start.
Variety puts the production budget at $44M. The $30M and $40M figures floating around, which Cosmic Book News attributes to The Hollywood Reporter, could not be verified.
Opening-night crowds liked it. Deadline reports 4½ stars on PostTrak and a 94% Rotten Tomatoes audience score. Reported critic scores range from 74% to 77%.
The competition is real. Deadline says A24’s You Can See Everything made $25.6M in its first week and expands from 855 theaters to about 2,600 on Friday. Variety calls its $15.6M limited opening the biggest launch for a nonmusical documentary in 20 years, and says the two films are fighting for first place.
What we don’t know yet
Weekend actuals. Forecasts for Clayface run from $15M to $35M, and You Can See Everything is projected at $15M to $25M for its second weekend. Any headline treating the No. 1 race as settled is premature.
Preview comparisons with Supergirl also need care. Collider reports Supergirl’s $7.8M included Wednesday fan screenings, while Clayface’s $3.5M is Thursday only.
What is rumored
Figures posted to r/boxoffice and aggregated by fan sites Comic Basics and Cosmic Book News show Clayface below Supergirl in every early overseas market reported. No trade outlet has confirmed them. They put day one at about 70% of Supergirl in Australia, 35% in Indonesia and 55% in South Korea, where it reportedly drew just under 19,000 admissions to Supergirl’s 34,000. It reportedly opened seventh in Italy and outside the top five in France. Another Comic Basics article gives 14,664 for South Korea, so the data conflict. Full-run overseas estimates sit near $32M.
Those same numbers sink a Comic Basics headline claiming Clayface debuted third overseas and outpaced Supergirl in South Korea.
Box Office Theory tracker data, relayed by Cosmic Book News, reportedly had presales about 80% behind Supergirl, pointing to $20M to $29M. Shawn Robbins’ site posts that data in forums, and its final forecast is $15M to $23M.
Boxoffice Pro, an established forecaster, projects $25M to $30M for Clayface and $15M to $20M for You Can See Everything. An unnamed theater-chain tracker cited by Comic Basics projected $18M to $20M before reviews landed. Gold Derby predicts about $25M against about $21M.
Two thinner claims: an unnamed Paramount insider told Cosmic Book News on October 2 that “Clayface better deliver,” with budget meetings scheduled. A single post from @GlobalBoxOffice on X says it is tracking to be DC’s top grosser of the year. Neither has corroboration.
What it means
Against a $44M budget, even Deadline’s forecast plus Variety’s overseas projection would be a solid start before marketing. Supergirl reportedly opened to $37.1M domestic and about $126M worldwide on a $170M budget, per Comic Basics and ComicBook.com rather than official sources. Clayface does not need Supergirl numbers to work.
Strong audience scores could help with legs, which body horror often lacks. If the fan-posted overseas figures hold, though, domestic will carry the load. The weekend actuals will tell us whether Clayface is a modest win or merely a cheap one.