“Clayface” won its opening weekend at the domestic box office with an estimated $24 million, according to Variety, but A24’s “You Can See Everything” came far closer to the top spot than anyone predicted a week ago, pulling in $19.5 million in its second weekend.
The Elizabeth Holmes documentary from directors Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim has outperformed expectations at every turn since its Oct. 16 debut, while the DC villain origin story from director James Watkins landed at the lower end of Warner Bros.’ forecast.
How The Weekend Played Out
“Clayface” opened in 3,458 North American theaters and added $19 million from 76 overseas markets for a global start of $43 million, per Variety. That’s just shy of the $45 million to $55 million worldwide range the film was eyeing heading into the weekend, and at the bottom of the studio’s $25 million to $35 million domestic expectation.
“You Can See Everything,” meanwhile, expanded from 855 theaters to roughly 2,600 venues and grew about 25% over its $15.6 million debut. That’s a rare second-weekend increase for any film, let alone a nearly three-hour documentary. Screen Rant, citing The Numbers, puts the film’s domestic total at $45.1 million.
Midweek Momentum Set The Stage
The documentary’s big weekend didn’t come out of nowhere. It won Wednesday with an estimated $2.3 million, according to Deadline, after taking Monday with $2.57 million. Box office analyst Scott Mendelson later put the final Wednesday figure at $2.6 million and the film’s first-week total at $25.65 million.
The film opened to $15.6 million from just 855 theaters, a per-theater average of about $18,246. That’s the biggest opening for a nonmusical documentary in more than 20 years, since Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” debuted with $23.9 million in 2004, according to TheWrap. It also drew more than 2,000 sellout screenings nationwide during its opening weekend, according to A24.
What The Clayface Result Means For Fans
Heading into the weekend, Warner Bros. and DC Studios projected a domestic opening between $25 million and $35 million, while rival studios pegged it lower, closer to $22 million to $28 million. Presale data cited by Deadline showed an even wider spread, with some circuits pointing to an $18 million opening and others to the mid-$20 millions. The final estimate landed squarely inside that range.
The good news for DC: “Clayface” cost $44 million to produce, according to Variety, a fraction of what the studio spent on “Superman” and “Supergirl.” Its opening alone covers more than half that budget before international grosses are counted.
For fans who spent the week weighing which film to catch, the raw dollars went to “Clayface” as expected. But the documentary’s trajectory shows A24’s specialty release punching well above its theater count, and it ran nearly even with a franchise film playing in about 850 more locations.
Background On Both Films
“You Can See Everything” is a nearly three-hour documentary that follows Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in the 34 days before she reported to federal prison. It holds a 99% critics score and 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and reached a 4.8 average on Letterboxd, which reports described as the highest for any feature film on the platform. Its audience has skewed young, with more than 70% of opening-weekend viewers under 35, according to The Associated Press.
“Clayface” stars Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, a rising Hollywood actor whose face is disfigured by a gangster before he turns to an experimental treatment to restore it. The R-rated body horror film is the third theatrical release in DC Studios’ rebooted DC Universe, following “Superman” and “Supergirl,” and its first horror entry.
“Street Fighter,” the previous weekend’s box office winner, opened to $31 million and earned a B- CinemaScore, the same grade audiences gave the original 1994 “Street Fighter” film.
What’s Next
Sunday’s numbers are studio estimates, with actual grosses due Monday. The bigger question is whether “You Can See Everything” can keep growing in its third weekend as Halloween horror crowds settle in, and whether “Clayface” can hold on with word of mouth after a softer-than-hoped start.
Readers can also track how “Street Fighter” topped the box office the prior weekend as the Holmes documentary surged, and revisit the full breakdown of “Street Fighter’s” $31 million opening for context on how the fall box office has shaped up so far.
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