DC Studios' R-rated horror film Clayface led the domestic box office this weekend with $24 million. Simultaneously, A24's documentary You Can See Everything expanded its reach, earning $19.5 million to bring its two-week total to $45.1 million.
The $44 million gamble that stabilized DC Studios
By pivoting toward body horror,DC Studios has found a sustainable path forward following the commercial failure of Supergirl. According to studio estimates, Clayface earned $24 million domestically and an additional $19 million internationally. This performance is particularly significant given the film's lean $44 million budget, a stark contrast to the $170 million spent on Supergirl, which only grossed $126 million worldwide.
The film, starring Tom Rhys Harries as the disfigured movie star Matt Hagen, represents a strategic shift under the leadership of James Gunn and Peter Safran. By blending comic book lore with R-rated horror, DC Studios successfully captured a niche audience, earning an A- CinemaScore. This suggests that the studio may find more stability in genre-bending experiments than in traditional, high-budget superhero spectacles.
A $7 million investment and the Gen Z surge for You Can See Everything
A24's documentary You Can See Everything, directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, has evolved from a niche project into a cultural phenomenon. As reported by David A. Gross of FranchiseRe, A24 invested approximately $7 million into the film, which has now grossed $45.1 million in just two weeks . The film's footprint grew significantly this weekend, expanding from 855 locations to 2,655 theaters.
The success of the Elizabeth Holmes documentary is being driven largely by Gen Z moviegoers, turning a complex study of truth and reality into a zeitgeist event . This surge has placed the film in a rare position: if it secures a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars, it would be the first documentary in history to be nominated for the academy's top prize.
Laika's $100 million hurdle with Wildwood
Despite strong critical reception and an A CinemaScore, Laika's stop-motion feature Wildwood faces a difficult path to profitability. The film, directed by Laika CEO Travis Knight, opened in third place with $11.8 million acrosss 2,779 locations.. While this is a marked improvement over the $5.9 million opening of Laika's 2019 release The Missing Link, the high cost of stop-motion production looms large.
With a production budget of $100 million, Wildwood is unlikely to break even based on its current trajectory. This highlights the ongoing financial risk associated with high-art animation in a market where audiences are increasingly unpredictable, even when the quality of the work is widely praised.
The missing numbers for Ali G and the $725,000 failure of Klara and the Sun
The weekend also exposed significant vulnerabilities for major studios , particularly Sony Pictures and Amazon MGM. Sony's Klara and the Sun, directed by Taika Waititi, struggled immensely, earning just $725,000 in 880 theaters. Meanwhile, Paramount Pictures' Street Fighter saw a precipitous 72 per cent drop in its second weekend, earning only $8.6 million.
One of the most glaring gaps in the weekend's data is the performance of Sacha Baron Cohen's Ali G: Who Iz I?. According to Rentrak, Amazon MGM opted not to report the grosses for the mockumentary. This silence comes amid reports of backlash in the U.K. regarding racial caricatures and cultural appropriation. It remains unclear exactly how poorly the film performed or if Amazon MGM intends to pull the film from theates entirely to mitigate the controversy.
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