Is DC’s ‘Clayface’ a Hit?

DC’s “Clayface” opened to $24 million at the box office this weekend. Is that… good? Bad? Good enough? It’s all of the above. James Gunn and Peter Safran’s reboot of the DC universe got off to a good start with last year’s “Superman,” which earned positive reviews and $619 million at the global box office against a $225 million budget. A solid launching pad. But then things hit the skids with this summer’s “Supergirl,” which was not only a box office bomb (it grossed just $126 million worldwide against a $170 million+ budget), but also earned largely negative reviews (it has a 52% on Rotten Tomatoes). So a lot was riding on “Clayface,” and on the surface $24 million for a superhero movie isn’t too hot — “Supergirl” opened to $37 million. But the key here is the budget. Gunn and Safran greenlit “Clayface,” a body horror movie about an actor whose skin literally starts melting and morphing like clay, at a budget around $40 million, which makes the path to profitability much more doable. Going in the “‘Clayface’ is a hit” column is the fact that the film earned an A- CinemaScore from audiences and a 4.5/5 on PostTrak, which bodes well for this coming Halloween weekend for folks looking for a good scary movie to watch for the holiday. Word of mouth won’t tank this one like it did “Supergirl.” Given the box office struggles of the entire superhero genre over the last couple of years, it’s very possible that Gunn and Safran’s approach here proves fortuitous. A Marvel-like slate of two or three $250 million superhero movies each year is a recipe for disaster in today’s environment. But limiting to one epic and one smaller-budgeted film per year (plus acclaimed TV expansions like just-wrapped HBO series “Lanterns”) is a smarter way of still serving DC fans, but also thinking outside the box to reach audiences who are maybe tired of the cape-and-cowl genre. So, is “Clayface” a hit? We won’t know for sure until we see what that second weekend looks like, but so far it’s not a disaster, and after “Supergirl” that’s really all DC and Warner Bros. needed to hear to breathe easy. Now, on to the rest of this week’s Reel to Real column as we tackle Netflix Film’s reset, Oscar chances for “You Can See Everything,” James Bond casting and more in this week’s newsletter. “Clayface” (Warner Bros. Pictures/DC Studios) Box Office: ‘Clayface’ $43 Million Globally, ‘You Can See Everything’ Rises 23% in 2nd Weekend As noted above, Warner Bros. may finally have its first significant box office success in more than a year with DC Studios’ “Clayface,” which is off to a promising start with a $24 million domestic and $43 million global opening weekend. “Clayface”should be a solid mid-budget success as Warner’s first film released under Skydance ownership, leading into an end-of-year slate that includes “The Cat in the Hat” and the highly anticipated “Dune: Part Three.” Meanwhile A24’s “You Can See Everything,” which is on course to become one of the highest-grossing documentaries of all time after an excellent $19.5 million second weekend that marks a 23% increase from its opening weekend after a nationwide expansion to 2,655 locations. With $45 million grossed domestically so far, “You Can See Everything” will pass Lance Oppenheim’s other A24 release this fall, “Primetime,” which has grossed $46.4 million through Sunday. If it keeps up this extraordinary pace, it may also soon outpace A24’s winter hit “Marty Supreme,” which grossed $96 million domestically over the holiday period last year. Fathom/Laika’s “Wildwood,” the latest stop-motion animated film from Travis Knight, which earned an $11.6 million domestic opening weekend from 2,582 locations. That’s just a step below the $12.6 million opening of Laika’s last film, “Kubo and the Two Strings,” in 2016. Paramount/Legendary’s “Street Fighter,” which has plummeted 72% to $8.6 million in its second weekend. With a limp $79.6 million worldwide against a production budget of at least $82 million before marketing, this won’t be a theatrically profitable film for Paramount or Legendary, the latter of which co-financed this title alongside “Street Fighter” publisher Capcom. Rounding out the top 5 is Black Bear’s “Wicker,” a Sundance-acquired fantasy romcom starring Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgard as a bitter village outcast and her dreamy husband made entirely out of wicker. Acquired by Black Bear for $2.5 million, the film has earned a solid $5.75 million domestic opening from 1,471 locations. With strong audience scores, including a 94% audience RT score and a 74% “definite recommend” rating on PostTrak, “Wicker” stands to be the first significant theatrical success for Black Bear as a U.S. distributor, having launched its domestic distribution wing last year. In a nod to the film’s humorous take on steamy fantasy romance, Black Bear has even partnered with 4DX for a one-day-only screening of the film in the moving-seat premium format on Oct. 28. – Jeremy Fuster Box office for Oct. 23-25 Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos and newly instated CCO Peter Rice look ahead to the streamer’s film slate. (Credit: Getty Images/Netflix/Chris Smith for TheWrap) The Spotlight With the ouster of Dan Lin and Bela Bajaria, Netflix Film is due for a reset. Peter Rice is now Chief Operating Officer at the megastreamer with a film chief TBA, but in the meantime Drew Taylor ran down the five things Netflix’s new film chief will have to address ASAP if they have any hope of righting the ship. Read the full story here. LAIKA New Releases PG-13 Animation: “Wildwood” is a rare PG-13 animated movie. Why so few, and what will it take for other studios to fill this gap? “You Can See Everything” at the Oscars: What will Academy voters think of the film? Steve Pond breaks down its chances. The Netflix Conundrum: Netflix outlined how it plans to fix its growth, but Wall Street is unconvinced. “Cliff Booth” Preview: Casey Loving saw the first 17 minutes of “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth.” Bond Finalists: 007 casting is nearly locked. Here are the final actors testing. Streaming’s “Anxiety Rewatch” Trend: Streaming viewership of the “Terminator” films surged after the rise of ChatGPT. “Musk” Censorship: The WGA warned of censorship as Elon Musk invested $1 billion into Skydance, the company that will control the streaming release of Alex Gibney’s Elon Musk doc. TheWrap on YouTube: Is ‘You Can See Everything’ an Oscar Game-Changer? TheWrap’s Steve Pond and Casey Loving unpack every awards-related question you have about “You Can See Everything.” Concession Stand Here’s why Aaron Paul is only in one tiny scene in “Clayface.” Yes, it was Billy’s idea to get naked on camera in “You Can See Everything.” A new “Alien” movie is in the works from Ridley Scott and “Prisoners” writer Aaron Guzikowski. RIP Tom Skerritt. Denzel Washington will star in a new Amazon MGM thriller for writer/director Christopher McQuarrie. Neon will boost the distribution of doc “NAZA” for its awards run. Christopher Nolan’s “The Prestige” is coming back to theaters in 70mm and IMAX for the first time. Jimmy Donaldson aka MrBeast speaks as Prime Video hosts an advance screening for “Beast Games” Season 2 (Credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Prime Video) Streaming Corner How scared of YouTube should Netflix be? In Nielsen’s latest Gauge report, YouTube had nearly double the share of viewing time than Netflix. Not only that, but a new study by UCLA found that Gen Z and Gen Alpha describe YouTube as the top storytelling platform of choice. What I’m Watching I caught up with “The End of Oak Street,” and the critics were right — this dinosaur movie by writer-director David Robert Mitchell is a blast. It scratches that Amblin itch in a real, foundational way. Remember when movies used to be a little gnarly? It seems like Warner Bros. didn’t really know what to do with it, as it grossed just $122 million. But don’t sleep on this; it’s a blast and the best “Jurassic Park” movie since “Jurassic Park.”