DC’s Clayface Hits Major Global Box Office Milestone, In 5x The Time That James Gunn's Superman Took

Clayface is moving slowly, but it has nevertheless carried on a DC Universe tradition by passing a major box office milestone.

The movie, which is the third installment in the newly rebranded DCU after the 2025 hit Superman and the 2026 bomb Supergirl, is an R-rated body horror movie starring Tom Rhys Harries in the title role as a rising star who has his career derailed when an experimental procedure turns his flesh into malleable clay. 2026’s Clayface debuted on October 23 with the lowest-grossing domestic opening weekend of the three films in the franchise, but it had a sophomore drop of just 54.2%, putting its trajectory closer to Superman (-53.2%) than Supergirl (-76.8%).

Per Warner Bros., as of Sunday morning, Clayface is projected to conclude its third weekend in theaters by hitting a cumulative global total of $109 million, comprising $56.6 million from domestic theaters and an additional $52.4 million from international markets. This sees it crossing the $100 million milestone worldwide on roughly day 16. While this milestone is a huge stepping stone for any movie, it has done so more than five times slower than Superman (which crossed it on day 3) and nearly a full week slower than Supergirl (which crossed it on day 10).

However, both of those previous DCU movies were rated PG-13, whereas Clayface is an R-rated release, which inherently limits its audience. It is performing quite well on that scale, as it is only the sixth R-rated horror movie of 2026 to pass the $100 million global milestone so far, outgrossing more than a dozen other titles. Below, see every R-rated horror movie in the global Top 100 for the year ahead of this weekend and where it ranked:

Additionally, while it is trailing behind the previous installments in its own franchise, Clayface was a much less risky endeavor than either movie. Superman reportedly cost $225 million while Supergirl reportedly cost between $170 and $186 million, which means that both movies’ estimated break-even points were most likely above $400 million (which is a milestone that only Superman reached).

However, most likely because DC Studios was anticipating the more limited audience inherent to an R-rated movie, Clayface reportedly cost just $44 million to make. This probably means that its break-even point is somewhere around $110 million, which is just $1 million away from its current cumulative global gross. It will most likely pass that benchmark worldwide at some point before the end of its third full week in theaters.

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While it seems like DC’s Clayface will turn a profit, it remains to be seen if this is a sign of a bright future for the DCU. It’s performing well at its scale, but it also represents continued diminishing returns for the franchise as a whole (Superman legged out to $618.7 million worldwide while Supergirl earned $126.4 million). If the next big-budget installment performs similarly, its prospects will not be nearly so rosy. However, given the fact that said follow-up will most likely be rated PG-13, it is difficult to compare its possible trajectory to that of DC’s horror movie.

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