Clayface Set for October 23 Release as Reviews Arrive

Clayface is set to open in U.S. theaters October 23, with early reviews describing the DC Studios film as a graphic body-horror story and its domestic opening weekend tracking at about $20 million. The tracking figure is an estimate, not a box-office result, and presales were reported to have strengthened in the days before release. The film stars Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, an actor whose disfigurement leads him to undergo an experimental treatment. James Watkins directed the movie, which adapts the Batman villain Clayface as the lead of a horror-focused story. A review listed its running time as 108 minutes and its rating as R for bloody violence, gore, language and some nudity. A report published October 21 said Clayface had 130 reviews on Letterboxd and an average rating of 3.75 out of 5, placing it third among DC films of the decade on that platform at that time. That figure is a snapshot, rather than a settled measure of audience response. Early critic reactions were also described as positive, with praise for the film’s horror elements, Watkins’ direction and Harries’ performance. The reported opening-weekend tracking is about $20 million domestically. The film’s...