Warner Bros. and DC Studios open Clayface in more than 3,400 North American theaters on Friday after a $3.5 million Thursday preview gross. The studio projects a $25 million to $30 million domestic opening, with $20 million to $25 million more internationally, against a $44 million production budget.
The film is the first DC Studios title to reach theaters since Supergirl faced box office headwinds over the summer. Tom Rhys Harries and Naomi Ackie lead the body-horror story of an actor who seeks a scientist’s help after his face becomes disfigured.
“a big swing that definitely pays off” — Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
What the preview number implies
A $3.5 million preview doesn’t decide the weekend, but it is the first hard demand signal for buyers and distributors. With a $25 million to $30 million domestic projection, the preview is a workable start for a $44 million budget; the projected global opening of $45 million to $55 million puts the film on a reasonable path, though theatrical performance now depends on holds beyond the core fan audience.
You Can See Everything widens from a record base
Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s Theranos documentary added $2.2 million on Thursday from 855 locations, lifting its domestic cume to $25.6 million. It widens to 2,600 theaters in its second weekend after a $15 million opening that was the highest for a release under 1,000 theaters since Borat in 2006.
The expansion is the weekend’s clearest example of a limited release converting word of mouth into a much larger footprint.
The rest of the slate in numbers
- Wicker: $620,000 Thursday previews across 1,471 theaters (Black Bear).
- Klara and the Sun: $85,000 Thursday previews; 850 theaters (Sony Pictures).
- Wildwood: Laika’s stop-motion feature in 2,926 theaters.
- Ali G: Who Iz I?: Amazon MGM’s comedy in 125 locations for one week only.
What to watch
For ScreenStat readers, the useful signal is the relationship between preview dollars and theater count. A $3.5 million preview across 3,400 venues is a different demand story than $620,000 across 1,471, or $85,000 across 850. Comparing titles without adjusting for footprint can misread how broad the appeal really is.
The next checkpoint is Saturday’s actuals, which will show whether Clayface draws beyond early fans of the DC brand.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
