DC's body-horror movie about a man who turns into living clay opened at number one this weekend. The more interesting number isn't the gross, though. It's the grade audiences gave it.
The numbers
Clayface took an estimated $24 million from 3,458 theaters, according to Friday-to-Sunday studio estimates reported by the Associated Press and The Numbers. That put it about $4.5 million ahead of You Can See Everything, A24's Elizabeth Holmes documentary, which surged 25% to $19.5 million in its second weekend. Overseas, the film opened to roughly $19 million, which puts the worldwide start somewhere around $43 million. Final figures come out Monday, and these are estimates.
For a horror film with a reported budget of $40 to 44 million, that's a healthy start rather than a monster one.
Why the A- matters
Audiences gave Clayface an A- CinemaScore (a poll of opening-night moviegoers, the closest thing the industry has to a quick audience verdict). Cosmic Book News, citing Deadline, notes that horror films usually land in the B or C range, and that the grade matches Superman's. It also reports a 93% Rotten Tomatoes audience score and 75% from critics.
That's the story here. DC's last big-swing opening, Supergirl, reportedly debuted higher at $37.1 million but finished as the lowest-grossing DC film ever, per the same outlet. A smaller opening with a stronger audience grade is the opposite shape. Word of mouth has something to work with.
A weird little movie in a big universe
This is a small, R-rated-leaning body-horror pitch from a studio better known for capes. Director James Watkins is working from a story by Mike Flanagan, who wrote the original screenplay, with a rewrite by Hossein Amini, per the film's production history. Flanagan has said he was inspired by Clayface's two-part appearance in Batman: The Animated Series in 1992. Tom Rhys Harries plays Matt Hagen, an actor whose disfigurement leads him to an experimental treatment with, let's say, side effects.
The film was first slated for September 11 and moved to October 23 to sit in Halloween season. The AP counts it as the third DC theatrical release under James Gunn and Peter Safran.
One more detail: Cosmic Book News reports it opened without any IMAX screens, since Street Fighter had them booked. Premium large formats still generated close to half the gross. If that's accurate, the real test is whether it holds through Halloween week.
Stock photo: Elijah Crouch / Unsplash