Supergirl concluded its run at the worldwide box office with a mere $126 million. The losses for DC Studios and Warner Bros. Discovery were significant, and that will likely be the last movie revolving around the Woman of Tomorrow that fans get for a long time.
Millie Alcock will return as Kara Zor-El in next summer's Man of Tomorrow, a movie James Gunn and Peter Safran are banking on being a much bigger success. In the meantime, there's Clayface, a lower-budget horror movie with an R-rating.
The movie, which, like every DCU project so far, doesn't feature an A-list lead. As October 23 fast approaches, we've had a teaser, a trailer, and an Entertainment Weekly feature, but it seems DC Studios still needs to boost excitement.
According to analyst Brandon Katz, 57 days before it's released, Clayface awareness is "lagging 4-film comp set at similar pre-release point (32% vs 38% avg), but Opening Weekend intent is nearly 2x higher (21% vs 11%), per Greenlight Analytics. Small audience, unusually locked in. Desire is there. It needs more reach."
"To be clear, I'm not knocking WB," he continued. "Most wide release promotional campaigns kick in at six weeks pre-release, with the bulk of the spend in the last three (though it varies film to film and studio by studio). Just sharing long-lead comp tracking patterns."
There is still time to increase this apparent lack of awareness. However, the odds may be stacked against Clayface. For non-comic book readers, the character is an unknown, and trailers have done nothing to connect him to Batman, one of DC's most popular heroes.
There is something of a horror resurgence right now, but Clayface has a lot in common with The Substance, and whether it's bringing anything new to the table for picky moviegoers has yet to be determined.
In Clayface, Matt Hagen’s meteoric rise from Gotham street kid to Hollywood leading man is tragically cut short when a local crime boss’s actions leave him horribly disfigured. Abandoned by his team and with nothing left, Matt seeks out a cutting-edge treatment that miraculously returns him to his former self, but also unexpectedly affects his grip on reality, spiralling him down a destructive path of all-consuming revenge.
The movie stars Tom Rhys Harries in the title role of the cult-favourite villain from Gotham's rogues' gallery. The cast includes Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella and Eddie Marsan, as well as Nancy Carroll and Joshua James.
James Watkins directs from a screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, with Flanagan also getting a "Story by" credit. Clayface is produced by Matt Reeves, Lynn Harris, James Gunn and Peter Safran, with Michael E. Uslan, Chantal Nong Vo, Lars P. Winther, Rafi Crohn and Paul Ritchie executive producing.
Watkins' creative team includes director of photography Rob Hardy, production designer James Price, editor Jon Harris and costume designer Keith Madden. Volker Bertelmann (Conclave) is the movie's composer.
Clayface will be released in theaters on October 23.