Clayface Opens at No. 1 as A24's Documentary Keeps Climbing
Warner Bros. and DC's R-rated Clayface opened at No. 1 at the North American box office with $24 million, according to studio estimates reported by Variety. These are studio estimates for the weekend of 23 to 25 October. Final figures come out on Monday.
The film opened in 3,458 theatres across the United States and Canada, a region the trade calls "domestic." It is directed by James Watkins. It follows Clayface, a Batman villain who is also a rising movie star. After severe facial disfigurement, he volunteers for an experimental medical procedure.
The result landed at the lower end of what the studio had expected. Studio projections had ranged from $25 million to $35 million. Friday, including previews, brought in $9.5 million, according to Deadline. Thursday previews had added $3.5 million earlier in the week.
Overseas, Clayface earned $19 million from 76 markets, bringing its global total to $43 million. The film cost $44 million to produce. Audiences gave it an A-minus on CinemaScore, a poll taken as people leave the cinema.
The weekend's bigger story may be the documentary You Can See Everything. A24 reported $19.5 million in its second weekend. The film, directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, expanded to 2,655 venues from 855 at its launch. Its second-weekend takings ran 28 per cent above its $15.6 million opening.
That opening was the best start for a nonmusical documentary in 20 years, Variety reported. The film has now earned $45.1 million domestically to date. Second weekends are a useful test of word of mouth, the talk that spreads after the first crowds leave. A film that holds its audience while adding screens is in a position few documentaries reach.
Laika's stop-motion adventure Wildwood debuted at No. 3 with $11 million from 2,718 venues. Projections had put it between $6 million and $8 million. The film carries a production price tag of $100 million and has collected $3 million internationally so far.
Taken together, the weekend shows a crowded top of the chart. A superhero film opened on top, a documentary kept growing on its second frame, and an animated feature beat its forecast. For cinemas, that spread of titles means more than one kind of film is drawing people in at once.
