‘Clayface’ Wins Box Office Opening; ‘You Can See Everything’ Gets $19M

Clayface made its mark in its opening weekend at the box office as the Elizabeth Holmes documentary You Can See Everything continued to build on its momentum with an impressive sophomore frame.

Warner Bros. released director James Watkins’ body-horror feature Clayface in more than 3,400 North American theaters, and it grossed around $24 million domestically for the weekend. While just under the studio’s initial projection of $25 million to $30 million, this represents a solid result for the genre offering from DC Studios that carries a modest $44 million budget. It added $19 million from 76 international markets.

Thanks to the lean budget, this is a more promising result for DC Studios than its previous release, as Supergirl struggled in opening to $37.1 million domestically over the summer on a $170 million budget. Clayface centers on a Batman villain that has not previously been a household name for general audiences and, though not matching the level of opening for a typical superhero feature, is well-positioned to ultimately hit a profit through ancillary markets, according to FranchiseRe. It was made more affordably than some of the villain and antihero spinoff films in recent years, including Venom: The Last Dance ($51 million launch on a reported $120 million production budget) and Kraven the Hunter ($11 million opening weekend on a $110 million budget), both Sony releases from 2024.

Audiences and critics alike found Clayface worth smiling about, as it earned an A- CinemaScore while holding a 75 score from reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes and a 94 from audiences. In his review for The Hollywood Reporter, critic Frank Scheck called Clayface “a big swing that definitely pays off.” Tom Rhys Harries and Naomi Ackie star in the story of Matt Hagen (Harries), an actor who turns to a scientist (Ackie) for assistance when his face becomes disfigured.

You Can See Everything went wide Friday in its second weekend and built on its hot opening, collecting $19.5 million from 2,600 North American locations to bring its domestic sum to $45.1 million. The A24 film, which has been the focus of awards buzz, becomes the rare title to gross more in its second weekend than its first and gives the studio the second-biggest weekend for a documentary since Fahrenheit 9/11′s $23.9 million in the summer of 2004.

Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim‘s movie about disgraced Theranos founder Holmes expanded after opening with $15 million from 855 theaters domestically, which gave it the highest-grossing launch for a release under 1,000 theaters since 2006’s Borat. After being made in secret over three years, You Can See Everything continues to reap success from its marketing that plays up the mystery surrounding the project that audiences adore, as it holds a 98 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 96 percent score from audiences.

Taking third place is Laika’s stop-motion animated movie Wildwood, expected to clear around $11.6 million for the weekend. This would represent a notable start for the independent original animated film that sees Fathom Entertainment handling distribution, and it nearly doubles the opening of Laika’s previous release when Missing Link debuted with $5.9 million in 2019. However, Wildwood, which has earned Oscar buzz, carries a hefty reported production budget of $100 million, giving the film a high bar for profitability that may be tough to cross.

Carey Mulligan, Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Jacob Tremblay lead the voice cast for Travis Knight’s feature about a teen girl venturing to an enchanted forest to save her baby brother. Earning an A CinemaScore, Wildwood holds a dazzling 100 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 97 from audiences, with Scheck heralding it as “stupendous in every aspect.”

After winning the box office battle last weekend, Paramount and Legendary’s Street Fighter landed $8.6 million with a roughly 72 percent decline to move its domestic cume to $46.9 million. Noah Centineo, Andrew Koji and Callina Liang lead director Kitao Sakurai’s adaptation of the Capcom video game centering on a combat tournament.

Rounding out the top five is Black Bear’s romantic fantasy Wicker, which is expected to open with $5.5 million from 1,471 North American theaters. Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgard star in directors Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer’s movie about a woman in a quiet village who gets a wicker husband.

In his review for THR, critic Richard Lawson praised Wicker’s “winning mix of irreverence and compassion.” It holds a 94 score on Rotten Tomatoes from both critics and audiences.

Having trouble rising to the occasion was Sony Pictures’ Klara and the Sun, with director Taika Waititi‘s film opening outside the top 10 with a gross around $725,000 for the weekend. The studio had dialed back the release with only 880 North American locations for the title that stars Jenna Ortega and Amy Adams. It adapts Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2021 novel about a robot companion connecting with a sick girl, with THR chief film critic David Rooney deeming the feature a “wretched mess.”

Additionally, Amazon MGM Studios released Sacha Baron Cohen’s Ali G: Who Iz I? in just 125 theaters on only Friday and Saturday ahead of its Prime Video debut and did not report grosses.

More to come.

This story was first published on Oct. 24 at 8:56 a.m.