‘Clayface' Gets Mixed Reviews, 59 on Metacritic — Tracking at Soft $18M–$20M Opening

The review embargo for “Clayface” lifted this afternoon, one day before Thursday previews kick off, and critics aren't exactly high for DC Studios' latest. The film currently sits at a 59 on Metacritic and 73% on Rotten Tomatoes. Not a disaster, not a triumph, just a big shrug of "mixed-to-positive."

Hey, at least that's an improvement on “Supergirl.” Much less toxicity going on around.

I saw “Clayface” and, admittedly, never got around to writing my thoughts down. Part of that is because there just wasn't much that stuck with me. For all the hype about this being a "different" kind of DCU project, a horror-leaning, lower-budget swing outside the usual superhero tropes, it still felt awfully familiar. At its core, this is a revenge origin story about a disfigured man wronged by the people around him, cut from the same cloth as Sam Raimi's “Darkman” and Alex Proyas’ “The Crow.” Those films had a wild, operatic energy that made the formula feel alive. Clayface has its moments, but it rarely breaks free of the template it's working from.

Yes, the film was made fairly cheap, last week, the budget was reported to be $30M, and I'd bet good money that figure came straight from Warner Bros to nuddy up the waters a bit. Now Variety is reporting the real number is closer to $44M. That's still cheap by DC standards, and frankly the kind of budget more studios should be working with.

Current tracking has “Clayface” opening to just $18M to $20M, and that projection was set before this afternoon's reviews dropped. Mixed notices aren't going to pump those numbers up.

The silver lining for DC is that, at $44M, “Clayface” doesn't need to be a blockbuster hit to avoid break even point. Thursday previews will tell us a lot. I'm not expecting miracles.

As for what's next for James Gunn's DCU, he's returning to the original winning formula: the ‘Superman’ sequel is coming next summer, and that one has to perform. Otherwise, his new boss, David Ellison, will likely run out of patience — and fast.