DC's 'Clayface' Crosses $100 Million After Losing 532 North American Theaters

Two weeks into its theatrical run, DC's Clayface has passed a coveted global box-office milestone. In doing so, the movie has also broken even theatrically — a rarity in this day and age, especially in the superhero genre. That said, the movie's comparatively smaller scale means that its actual box-office performance can't really hold a candle to some of the genre's bigger hits. However, Clayface remains on track to overtake this year's Supergirl, which ended its run with around $125 million worldwide and cost nearly four times as much.

Clayface was produced on a reported budget of $40 million — lower than some of the costlier horror movies we've seen this year. For instance, this year's Scream 7 cost $45 million to produce, while Resident Evil cost $75 million. On the other hand, $40 million is a king's ransom when compared to the $10 million production cost of Backrooms and the $1 million it cost to produce Obsession. Both those films were anomalies that played off each other to gross nearly $1 billion worldwide. In fact, 2019's Joker set the template for Clayface, grossing $1 billion against a reported budget of $55 million.

Joker, however, was also an anomaly. Clayface is playing like a regular horror movie and not an installment of a major superhero franchise. The movie has overtaken director James Watkins' previous film, Speak No Evil, which generated $77 million worldwide against a reported budget of $15 million, and should soon overtake the filmmaker's 2012 release The Woman in Black, which grossed around $130 million against a reported budget of $15 million.

Here's How Much 'Clayface' Has Grossed So Far

Clayface lost more than 530 theaters as it entered its third week of release, having debuted in 3,458 theaters two weeks ago. The film added around $7 million this weekend, pushing its domestic total to nearly $60 million. Globally, Clayface has surpassed the $100 million milestone, overtaking Lee Cronin's The Mummy and Evil Dead Burn.

Starring Tom Rhys Harries, Naomi Ackie, Max Minghella, and Eddie Marsan, the film exists in an alternate Gotham City from the one seen in Matt Reeves' The Batman. This opens the door for DC Studios to make more cost-effective movies focusing on Batman's rogues' gallery. Clayface received positive reviews from critics and audiences alike, and is now sitting at a "Certified Fresh" 78% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The aggregator website's consensus reads, "Carving out a unique identity for itself in the DCU while closely resembling a litany of body horror classics, Clayface takes time to get going until it eventually morphs into an icky and satisfying revenge thriller."