r/boxoffice • u/Exciting-Plankton960 • 4h ago
Worldwide Will Clayface Being Extremely Graphic Hurt or Help Box-Office?
People who have seen Clayface had words to share that I can't quote, because this sub forbids posting early reactions.
I was taken aback a bit. It seems that they went full Horror and full gore, not just the flavour of genre Comic Book films usually have (with people calling Captain America: Winter Soldier a political thriller when it culminates with superhumans punching each other abord a flying battleship, something that's not really what happens in All the President's Men).
I had not realised that it's actually disturbing and hard to watch.
Do you think that this will hurt the film, being too intense for the regular Comic Book audience? Or will it propel it, with the fans of hard Horror flocking to it?
I personally cancelled my ticket. I was curious about it, but I was afraid it could make me physically ill. But I am not a horror person and not a good sample or example. Terrifier thrived on extremes.
My take is that this will create controversy and a lot of people might be curious. On the other hand, Body Horror doesn't perform that well, and even a film like The Substance can't crack over 100M worldwide. I feel a bit better than The Substance is where it lands.
17
u/AgentOfSPYRAL Warner Bros. Pictures 4h ago
I’m more of a comic book fan than horror, but if you’re gonna make a Clayface movie might as well go for it. Some level of body horror is to be expected.
-1
u/Exciting-Plankton960 4h ago
If it's more than the trailers, I can't.
6
u/AgentOfSPYRAL Warner Bros. Pictures 3h ago
Understandable, I’m just saying it’s a plus for me even as someone who generally avoids horror.
0
u/Exciting-Plankton960 3h ago
You are right. I usually avoid Horror. I think that "too violent", "too gruesome" can help it. Like a challenge. It makes perfect sense. I wasn't thinking about that.
9
u/ElSquibbonator 3h ago
This is a tricky question to answer, because we don't have many good comps for Clayface. It's the first time we've had a movie based on a character from a superhero comic that was billed, first and foremost, as a horror movie. I guess the closest thing I can think of to a comp would be The New Mutants, which was conceived as an X-Men horror movie, but it had the double misfortune to come out during both the COVID pandemic and Disney's acquisition of Fox.
3
u/Exciting-Plankton960 3h ago
Very insightful. I had not thought of it under that lens.
4
u/ElSquibbonator 3h ago
Actually, now that I think about it, Clayface is also coming out during a merger, which judging from how The New Mutants did doesn't bode well.
2
2
u/Lost_Zimia 1h ago
Brightburn would be a good comp other than it not being an existing IP. James Gunn co-wrote. I expect this will do much better than Brightburn though.
24
u/whiteshark70 Walt Disney Studios 4h ago
I think hurt it, since body horror has less broad appeal than other types of horror and turns more people off. But if reviews are as good as early reactions it should leg out okay
3
•
u/ElysiumMidknight 18m ago
I think this will be the first real test for whether body horror can really break out. The Substance was a small release that ended up doing pretty thanks to WoM. There's Cronenberg, but his movies are really weird even ignoring the body horror aspect. Clayface is attached to a known IP (even if it's not a huge one), and is going to have a pretty big marketing budget behind it. So long as the movie is good it'll be a good measuring stick for a future movies in the subgenre.
45
u/I_Like_Turtle101 4h ago
I think it would honestly help. Horror are very in right now . Good word of mouth could help as long as its not too much associated with DC
23
u/Admirable-Charge1734 4h ago
Obsession REALLY benefitted from good word of mouth, hence why its being helmed horror movie of the year
1
1
16
u/Subliminal_Kiddo 4h ago
The Substance was a lot more visceral than the goopy brand of body horror that is Clayface. Also, despite being a pop culture phenomenon, The Substance had a limited release and virtually no marketing. It had social media hype and Demi and Margaret working their asses off on the talk show circuit to promote it. Those women deserve a lot of credit - Demi especially - for going on the television shows and selling that film in a way that was intriguing to an older audience. who would normally avoid that subgenre
The Substance really took off when it hit VOD. With that said, it did amazing at the box office for the kind of film it was. "Body horror doesn't do well at the box office," Is a weak argument because body horror - real body horror - is almost always indie films that don't get wide release. The big two that had blockbuster releases were The Thing and The Fly. One famously bombed, the other was one of the highest grossing films its respective year. And the one that bombed was released during the summer, against a film that became one of the defining works of American cinema.
14
u/Tomi97_origin 4h ago
The Substance was wide release. Anything over 1000 screens is wide release and Substance was on almost 2000.
It has limited expansion later on, but the original release was wide.
2
u/margoo12 3h ago
Clayface should open with at least 50% more screens, which should help it. I've heard there are some concerns about capacity issues with PLFs, so those might get a bit of an expansion as we get closer to release.
Early tracking still has Clayface's opening weekend above The Substance's entire domestic box office run, and if international audiences respond to it the same way they did The Substance, then DC will be very, very happy.
3
u/Exciting-Plankton960 4h ago
"The Substance was a lot more visceral than the goopy brand of body horror that is Clayface". We don't know that.
14
u/1111joey1111 4h ago
A lot of people forget that James Gunn isn't a stranger to horror. He wrote the screenplay to the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead, which was directed by none other than Zack Snyder (his directorial debut).
So, it's not surprising to me that Clayface was given the greenlight by Gunn to indulge in aspects of the horror genre.
11
2
10
u/Admirable-Charge1734 4h ago
Obsession did pretty well this year, what WILL hurt its box office is the lack of marketing. This goes for most Warner Bros movies this year. Im super excited for this movie and have been for the past six months. Horror is pretty big with teenagers and even small indie movies bring them in, hopefully they and everyone else gets the message and goes to see this movie. Wildwood comes out alongside this movie as well.
12
u/Mindless-Milk-9205 4h ago
Obsession was a surprising social media phenomenon and might be hard to repeat.
And WB marketing has been shit this year, that's true.
6
u/Admirable-Charge1734 4h ago
I thought Digger was supposed to be this years One Battle After Another, a big cinematic event/release, instead it became a big financial disaster. I appreciate artsy movies and I like some but Digger just made no sense for me and didnt click. Besides Warner Bros seems to start marketing their movies a week before release. Digger tickets went on sale DAYS before it released. Alejandro Iñarritu and Tom Cruise is all it had going for it
2
7
u/Exciting-Plankton960 4h ago
Obsession was not disgusting, though. No one threw up.
11
u/Admirable-Charge1734 4h ago
The whole "this movie made everyone throw up" thing is a gimmick they use to get butts in seats. I know because ive seen some movies with those kinds of reviews and mostly its just so over the top its not too bad. Ive yet to see a horror movie that ACTUALLY makes me throw up
-3
u/Exciting-Plankton960 4h ago
I felt sick during Scream VII and It: Chapter II, threw up in the restroom and left.
5
u/Admirable-Charge1734 4h ago
Oof buddy, Scream 7 is NOTHING compared to Terrfier 3 (over the top but still gory), The Poughkeepsie Tapes, or the Saw franchise. Im sure some horror fans here would call my picks "light" because there are FAR more graphic/disturbing movies out there but yeah...might wanna reconsider Clayface if Scream 7 of all movies made ya puke
1
1
u/ShadowVulcan 3h ago
Terrifier is 'light'?? What the hell do they consider heavy?
0
u/Great_Abrocoma6510 3h ago
The human centipede maybe
1
u/ShadowVulcan 3h ago edited 3h ago
Eh, wouldnt consider that (maybe the sequel, that was genuinely very very disturbing but not in a good way) close to any of the terrifier movies
1
u/Exciting-Plankton960 4h ago
Wildwood has captured my heart and imagination.
-1
u/Admirable-Charge1734 4h ago
Wildwood BETTER be crowned BEST ANIMATED FEATURE. That movie looks like one of the most beautiful animated movies ever
1
u/Exciting-Plankton960 4h ago
Even if it's boring, I'm living for the visuals. Just like Michael had zero story, but Jafar was Michael Jackson reborn.
10
u/MARATXXX 4h ago
terrifier 3 made nearly 100 million in theatres (and surely more than a 100 million at this point when considering home video and streaming) so i think the cultural temperature is primed for hard r horror movies. it helps that most non-comic book fans do not know that clayface is a comic book character, and will just assume it's a regular horror film.
4
u/Exciting-Plankton960 4h ago
I think 100M is the ceiling too.
0
u/MARATXXX 4h ago
it might do better simply because parents can take kids to clayface (but they couldn't with terrifier 3 unless they were snuck in).
1
u/AltL155 4h ago
Plenty of kids saw Terrifier 3. Since it was unrated the age restriction policies were enforced on a per-theater basis and it wasn't the blanket under-18 ban an NC-17 rating would get.
1
u/MARATXXX 4h ago edited 4h ago
in canada, where a single theatre chain, cineplex, has an almost total monopoly, it was impossible for anyone under 18 to have a ticket, and you had to show your ID before entering the theatre. didn't matter that it was unrated.
perhaps this was less consistently enforced in the states, but my understanding was that many chains did try to enforce an nc-17 ban.
that being said, of course teenagers still managed to see it. many by sneaking in or being snuck in.
6
u/Mindless-Milk-9205 4h ago edited 4h ago
You can wait for other reviews and then get a ticket later. I didn't buy one as well. I usually buy tickets closer to the movie (except if the movie is very hyped and tickets are hard to get). And for this one, I'll get tickets closer as well.
Maybe I'll get Saturday or Sunday
I think for box office, it will hurt it because it's audience is niche. DCU fans who don't like these kind of gore are less likely to watch it.
It will still make money, and probably will get good reviews (judging from early social media reactions....and before anyone brings up Supergirl...... supergirl had mixed to negative early reactions.....but Clayface looks overwhelmingly positive).
It will also get horror audience.....and there aren't many movies to watch in theatres right now as well.
But for general audience....not too sure.
Im really excited to watch it but idk about others.
0
12
u/Katicflis1 4h ago
I tend to enjoy a lot of horror. At the cinema, I've seen weapons, iron lung, obsession, Resident evil, backrooms and am part of a local theater movie group that does some retro horror -- saw the movies Stepfather and Lost Boys for the first time this year.
I very much don't enjoy body horror or anything that just reads like "torture porn"(Like I stopped watching Saw movies after the first few) ...
So as a pretty significant horror-movie supporter -- with horror luring me out of the house far more than any other genre -- my interest in Clayface is low. It basically needs great reviews for me to develop an interest in seeing it.
14
u/whiteshark70 Walt Disney Studios 4h ago
Yep. I think a lot of discussion so far has been looking back at a lot of the horror breakout hits this year (Obsession, Backrooms, etc) and has been framing Clayface as a potential breakout too. But the issue is that it's a different type of horror than the other movies, and body horror is a lot more niche than like, slasher or supernatural horror. Even The Substance made 77M and had critical acclaim (though it didn't have as much of a wide release).
3
u/Exciting-Plankton960 4h ago
I was OK with going to watch it if if was just scary. Disgusting threw me off. Once my ex-husband threw up during It Chapter II and it was a whole situation.
1
1
u/No-Peanut8725 3h ago
Separate topic from your post,how did you enjoy lost boys ? I saw it on original release and really liked it.
2
u/Katicflis1 3h ago
I thought it was fun. The tongue-in-cheek boy monster slayers were great, young Keifer sutherland was fun to watch, the initiation into the group was that fanciful strange that was fun to watch.
I can see why its a cult classic. Im glad I checked it out.
•
u/No-Peanut8725 51m ago
Perfect summary.Its a fun but not kooky vampire flick.It has some great style. If you are a south park fan there is an episode where Randy takes ozempic with a group of moms. The entire scene including soundtrack is an homage the lost boys.Specially the initiation into the group.
3
u/superdavit 2h ago
It’s def got me interested.
1
u/Exciting-Plankton960 1h ago
Great to know. Marketing is working. I'm not the target audience, I concede.
3
•
u/HonestDishonestWork 13m ago
I generally avoid DC movies because them flopping is hilarious but I was at least curious with Clayface. Then I saw the eye-cutting trailer and decided I'd pass on it too.
•
5
4
u/horse-renoir 3h ago
I think fully leaning into the R-rated horror elements will help Clayface, not hurt it. In order for this film to succeed, they need full buy-in from the horror audience rather than relying on a much smaller pool of comic book fans who want to watch a movie about a C-list character. If this film is legitimately scary, gory and gross then that gives it more credibility with horror fans compared to previous horror-themed CBMs like Morbius or New Mutants. The October schedule is wide open for a horror movie with good buzz after Other Mommy got terrible WOM, if reviews for Clayface are positive then I think it can find a successful niche in an otherwise dry fall season.
2
3
3
u/Modinda 1h ago
I don’t know how many prospective watchers will think of it from this angle, but as an occasional comics fan I really like that they’re leaning fully into the body horror for Clayface. It’s an element inherently built into the character and not something we’ve fully seen on the big screen. Other characters with similar stretchy powers that we’ve seen on the big screen recently, like Kamala Khan and Reed Richards, have had their powers underutilized IMO.
0
2
3
u/TJ_McWeaksauce 3h ago
It's a horror movie being released in an October that's relatively light on horror. People in the Halloween mood will want to see something graphic.
I don't know if it'll be a hit, but I suspect it'll at least be profitable.
2
2
u/DoofusScarecrow88 4h ago
Horror seems to do better with word of mouth than others. When I saw the production cost, it seems less of a daunting test to me for it to be successful unlike Supergirl
2
u/margoo12 3h ago
I don't think it being a body horror will hurt the movie any more than the R rating will.
I would like to point out that if Air Force One counts as a political action thriller, then so should Winter Soldier. I feel like CBMs work best when they are trying to be actual films and not just action sequences held together with a plot thinner than plastic wrap.
-2
u/Exciting-Plankton960 3h ago
Punching Trump won't end his Coup d'état in Brazil. That's like saying Wonder Woman is an anti-rape film because no one can rape Wonder Woman.
3
u/margoo12 3h ago
What?
Air Force One is a Political Action Thriller starring Harrison Ford. It doesn't have anything to do with Trump or Wonder Woman.
All I am saying is if Air Force One counts as a political action thriller, then so does Winter Soldier.
Side note: How does that Wonder Woman comparison make any sense at all to you? I'm still struggling with it. Are you trying to say that just involving political figures isn't enough to make it a political thriller? I agree with that. I wouldn't call The Birdcage a political thriller, even if the movie's plot hinged on the political career of Gene Hackman's character. But a movie that's plot is about stopping a secret government cabal from using advanced surveillance technology to eliminate current and potential future political rivals absolutely falls into that category.
1
u/Exciting-Plankton960 1h ago
All I am saying is if Air Force One counts as a political action thriller, then so does Winter Soldier. HA HA HA. Sure. Nixon was punched out of a spaceship.
•
u/Witty_Name_420 1m ago
I’ll probably skip it because of that, that kind of horror isn’t my cup of tea.
1
u/Waste-Scratch2982 4h ago
It’s still a studio movie so it can only go so far and will be primarily CG-assisted gore like Resident Evil or Final Destination: Bloodlines most likely. Early reactions always exaggerate the content of the movie.
3
1
u/Exciting-Plankton960 4h ago
I through Scream VII crossed many lines. How the son of the REDACTED died was too much.
1
u/bonefont 2h ago
Hurt it, in that it won’t be of interest to the sort of people who aren’t necessarily genre fans but come out for The Conjuring 3.
I don’t think body horror is very popular with casual audiences the way ghosts and demons are. It’s more likely to be gross than thrilling. The character is not well know to the general public, and as far as I know there are no well known actors in it. I grew up reading comics and I couldn’t tell you whose nemesis Clayface is.
1
•
u/AllTheCoolNames 39m ago
As a big BatFam fan I wasn't super interested in a Clayface solo movie, but I was debating. I absolutely can't do body horror though. Hearing it's really graphic means I'll probably never watch it, unfortunately. I hope it's good though for the people who will!
•
1
1
u/the100broken 3h ago
Hope not. Need more actually R Rated superhero movies, and this makes me more likely to see it. Tired of Marvel family friendly slop
1
0
u/Warded_Works 3h ago
It’s an r-rated horror movie, with trailers that made it clear it was going to be pretty graphic. I think if you went into this and were surprised, you really weren’t paying attention.
If anything, it’ll help. It’s already tracking well.
-1
u/Exciting-Plankton960 1h ago
I wasn't. Clayface isn't my whole life.
2
u/Warded_Works 1h ago
Watching a trailer isn’t your whole life. It’s the bare minimum.
-2
u/Exciting-Plankton960 1h ago
The notion that watching the Clayface trailer is the bare minimum to be alive makes me worry about you living longer than today. Seek help.
1
u/Warded_Works 1h ago
Yeah, maybe you need help with English because that makes no sense. Turns out expecting someone to know things about the movie they’re making posts about in a box office subreddit was expecting too much.
-2
u/Exciting-Plankton960 1h ago
You said "watching a trailer isn’t your whole life. It’s the bare minimum". How is that anything other than watching a trailer is the bare minimum to living?
Should we unalive if we miss a trailer?
2
u/Warded_Works 1h ago
Yeah, you definitely need help with English if that’s how you read that.
-1
u/Exciting-Plankton960 1h ago
"Watching a trailer isn’t your whole life. It’s the bare minimum." Explain how that means anything other than watching a trailer isn't the bare minimum to life. Quote sources.
2
-1
u/Existing_Coach1541 4h ago
I thought you saying "clayface" was referring to the digger because of Tom's Cruise grey face in it.
2
u/Exciting-Plankton960 4h ago
I did not enjoy Digger, but I loved it. It was not a good time watching it. I have not stopped thinking about it and talking to people about it.
•
u/g0dgamertag9 29m ago
it is technically not gore
unless it gets real bloody
•
u/Exciting-Plankton960 25m ago
So films need real human blood?
•
u/g0dgamertag9 15m ago
for example
gore would be someone’s head getting cut off with a chainsaw (etc)
body horror would be someone’s head turning to be almost like playdoh, like in the trailer when he drags his hand down his face
-3
u/Top_Report_4895 DC Studios 3h ago
An even-keeled analysis of a dcu movie, in Here? You gotta be careful the haters won't like it.
1
u/Exciting-Plankton960 3h ago
I thought Supergirl was "meh", but better than Masters of the Universe. I LOVE Man of Steel, but hate Batman v. Superman: Dwan of Justice. I think both Justice Leagues were bad, but Whedon's was less bad. I loved both Wonder Women equally. Same for both Aquamen. I thought Flash was trash. I didn't watch ThE Batman, because if I want to be sad for three hours, I just go to work 6 AM.
-2
u/Top_Report_4895 DC Studios 3h ago
And Superman 2025?
1
u/Exciting-Plankton960 3h ago
I liked it. I feel that I need to say I loved it. I liked it. I loved Lois and Clark. Even Lex. The film had 45 characters and 8 plots.
1
48
u/JayMoots 4h ago
Sounds like the studio is explicitly making a bet that they'll attract more from the latter group than they'll repel from the former group.