Clayface (2026) — DC's R-Rated Body Horror Hit That Melted the Box Office

DC Studios took one of Batman's strangest villains, gave him a modest budget and an R rating, and turned him into one of the surprise hits of the fall. Clayface, the body horror film directed by James Watkins, opened at No. 1 in North America — and it has kept melting records ever since.

The film stars Welsh actor Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, a rising Gotham actor whose face is destroyed in an attack ordered by a crime boss. Desperate to save his career, Hagen turns to Dr. Caitlyn Corr, a fringe scientist played by Naomi Ackie, whose experimental treatment rebuilds his body — with horrifying results. His flesh becomes living clay, and the man who wanted his face back becomes a shapeshifting monster who can be anyone.

The cast also includes Max Minghella as a Gotham police detective, Eddie Marsan, David Dencik, and an uncredited cameo from Aaron Paul. Watkins, the director behind Speak No Evil and Eden Lake, directs from a screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini. It is the third film in the new DC Universe, and the boldest swing yet — a horror movie first and a superhero movie second, closer in spirit to The Fly than to a typical comic book blockbuster.

Audiences loved it. Opening-night crowds gave Clayface a rare A- CinemaScore, almost unheard of for a horror film, and critics agreed, with the film holding around 74% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. The opening weekend delivered about $24 million in the United States and Canada from 3,458 theaters, topping the chart ahead of the Elizabeth Holmes documentary You Can See Everything. It was a strong start for a film made for a reported budget of $30 million to $44 million.

The holds were even better. In its second weekend the film added about $10.4 million, and by its third weekend — facing Godzilla Minus Zero and The Cat in the Hat — it passed $100 million worldwide. As of November 8, Clayface has earned about $56.7 million in North America and roughly $109 million worldwide, more than double its reported production budget. For a villain most casual moviegoers had never heard of, that is a remarkable result.

What makes Clayface work is that it never forgets the tragedy at its center. Hagen is not a monster who wants to rule Gotham — he is an actor who lost everything and will do anything to get it back. Harries, chosen after what DC Studios chief James Gunn called a long and exhaustive search, carries the film with a performance that is by turns heartbreaking and terrifying.

Clayface is now playing in theaters. No digital or streaming date has been announced yet, so the big screen is still the only way to see Gotham's ugliest new face.

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Will you be watching Clayface in theaters? Tell us in the comments — is he DC's scariest villain yet?