‘Clayface’ Trailer: James Watkins’ R-Rated $40M DCU Body-Horror

A trailer has arrived for “Clayface,” the upcoming DC Studios feature directed by James Watkins and written by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, positioning the film squarely as a Halloween-season release for 2026. ”Darkman” vibes in the trailer.

This is not standard superhero fare. Instead, DC appears to be leaning fully into horror territory, with the project shaped as a darker, R-rated spin on its source material. That rating choice suggests a looser creative framework and a willingness to push into more extreme, body-horror-inflected storytelling.

Tom Rhys Harries leads the film in the title role, with the rising Welsh actor ultimately landing the part over reported contenders Jack O’Connell and George MacKay.

Behind the scenes, Clayface has already undergone a significant creative shift. Mike Flanagan reportedly delivered an early draft before moving on to focus his attention on his Carrie series for Prime Video. Hossein Amini, best known for Drive, was subsequently brought in to reshape the script, leaving open questions about how writing credits will ultimately be shared.

The story centers on a struggling B-movie actor who turns to a mysterious substance in a desperate bid to stay relevant — a premise that inevitably invites comparisons to recent body-horror cinema exploring fame, identity, and physical transformation.

Warner Bros. and DC Studios are reportedly targeting a modest $40 million budget and an R-rating, a combination that suggests a more contained, genre-driven experiment within the larger DC slate. James Gunn has already confirmed those parameters, signaling a deliberate pivot toward leaner, more director-driven projects.

The film is directed by James Watkins, whose credits include the notoriously brutal Eden Lake, the gothic hit The Woman in Black, standout television work on Black Mirror (“Shut Up and Dance”), and the recent English-language remake of Speak No Evil.

Clayface is scheduled to arrive in theaters on October 23, 2026 from Warner Bros. and DC Studios.