Having recently passed what is likely its final box-office milestone, DC’s new R-rated horror movie is on its way out of theaters. The movie will reportedly debut digitally after the first week of December, which gives it around three weeks to make the most of its remaining theatrical run. The film’s release came at a particularly precarious period for DC Studios, and things have changed drastically in the weeks since its release. A few days ago, fans were met with the shocking news that co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran had been replaced after four years, leaving their planned slate in a state of flux.
In that regard, Clayface is lucky to have made it to theaters. The film began its journey as a spin-off to Matt Reeves‘ The Batman, with Mike Flanagan attached to write and direct, but was looped into the DC Universe and ultimately helmed by James Watkins. Reeves’ universe continued with a sequel to The Batman and its spin-off television series The Penguin. There was also the third independent DC-related project in the form of Todd Phillips‘ Joker: Folie à Deux.
As recently as a few weeks ago, Gunn said that the long-term plan for the franchise doesn’t rely on an interconnected universe. The series’ previous iteration, the DC Extended Universe, was criticized for rushing toward a team-up film in the vein of Marvel’s The Avengers. It remains to be seen if the franchise is rebooted once again after Gunn and Safran’s departure.
Horror/Quizzes/Survival Odds
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Survival TestSP · Do Not Rewind
Collider QuizWhich Horror Villain Could You Survive?8 Questions · 5 VillainsFive villains. Five completely different ways this ends badly if you are not smart enough, fast enough, or self-aware enough to avoid it. Only one of them is the villain your particular set of instincts gives you a fighting chance against. Eight questions will figure out which one.The Lineup
Jason Voorhees
Michael Myers
Freddy Krueger
Pennywise
Chucky
Survival Odds CalculatedYour Best Chance Is Against
Your instincts, your strengths, and your particular way of thinking under pressure
point to one villain you have a real fighting chance against. Everyone else: good luck.
Friday the 13thJason VoorheesCamp Crystal Lake · Friday the 13th, 1980Relentless, but he never once changes the plan.
Jason is relentless, but he is also predictable, and that is the gap you would exploit.Why You Last Longer
He moves in straight lines toward his target. He doesn’t strategize, doesn’t
adapt, doesn’t outsmart. He simply pursues.
Your ability to keep moving, use the environment, and resist the panic that freezes most
people gives you a genuine edge.
The Crystal Lake survivors were always the ones who stopped running in circles and started
thinking about terrain, water, and distance.
You think like that. Which means Jason, for all his indestructibility, would face someone
who simply refused to be where he expected.
From The Collider File
Crystal Lake, the Peacock prequel series, dropped all eight episodes on October 15, 2026.
It ended a 17-year gap, the longest the franchise has ever gone without a new entry.
Keeps MovingReads TerrainCrystal Lake
HalloweenMichael MyersHaddonfield, Illinois · Halloween, 1978He is already in the frame. You just have to look.
Michael watches before he moves. He is patient, methodical, and almost impossible to detect, until it’s too late for anyone who isn’t paying close enough attention.Why You Last Longer
But you are paying attention. You notice the shape in the window, the car parked slightly
wrong, the silence where there should be sound.
Michael’s power lies in the invisibility of ordinary suburbia, the fact that nothing
ever looks wrong until it already is.
Your spatial awareness and instinct to map every room, every exit, and every shadow before
you need them is precisely the quality Laurie Strode had.
You are not a target waiting to happen. You are someone who already suspects something is
wrong, and acts on it.
From The Collider File
John Carpenter is producing a new Halloween film with Blumhouse and Miramax.
The 1978 mask was a store-bought Captain Kirk mask, widened at the eyes and painted white.
Checks ExitsNotices FirstHaddonfield
A Nightmare on Elm StreetFreddy KruegerElm Street · A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984He needs you rattled. You are hard to rattle.
Freddy wins by getting inside your head, using your own fears, your own memories, your own subconscious against you. That strategy requires a target who can be destabilized.Why You Last Longer
You are harder to destabilize than most. You’ve faced uncomfortable truths about
yourself and you haven’t looked away.
The survivors on Elm Street were always the ones who understood what was happening and chose
to face it rather than flee from it.
Freddy’s greatest weakness is that his power evaporates in the presence of someone who
refuses to give him the fear he feeds on.
Your psychological resilience, the ability to stay grounded when reality itself becomes
unreliable, is exactly the quality that keeps you alive here.
From The Collider File
Paramount set a new A Nightmare on Elm Street in motion in July 2026, with the Wes Craven
estate involved.
Craven built the original on newspaper reports of people so afraid of their own nightmares
that they refused to fall asleep.
Stays LucidFaces ItElm Street
ItPennywiseDerry, Maine · It, 1990It eats fear. You are not serving any.
Pennywise is ancient, shapeshifting, and feeds on fear, but it has one critical vulnerability: it cannot function against someone who truly stops being afraid of it.Why You Last Longer
The Losers Club didn’t survive because they were braver than everyone else. They
survived because they faced their fears together, and faced them honestly.
You ask the questions others avoid. You look directly at what frightens you rather than
turning away.
That directness, the refusal to let fear fester in the dark, is Pennywise’s worst
nightmare.
It chose the wrong target when it chose you. You are exactly the kind of person whose fear
tastes like nothing at all.
From The Collider File
HBO renewed It: Welcome to Derry for a second season, with Bill Skarsgard back under the
makeup.
The showrunners have said season two reaches further back, to younger versions of the first
season’s characters.
Asks Out LoudUnrattledDerry
Child’s PlayChuckyChicago · Child’s Play, 1988Everybody laughs. You are not laughing.
Chucky’s greatest advantage is that nobody takes him seriously until it’s already too late. He exploits the gap between how something looks and what it really is.Why You Last Longer
You don’t have that gap. You take threats seriously regardless of how they present, and
you never make the mistake of underestimating something because of its size or appearance.
Chucky relies on surprise, on the delay between recognition and response. You close that
delay faster than almost anyone.
Your instinct to treat every unfamiliar thing with appropriate skepticism, rather than
dismissing it because it seems absurd, is the exact quality that keeps you breathing.
Against Chucky, not laughing is already winning. You are very good at not laughing.
From The Collider File
Don Mancini is writing the next Chucky film and plans to direct it himself, aimed back at
the scarier end.
Brad Dourif has voiced the doll since 1988 and has said he has no plans to stop.
Takes It SeriouslyFast ResponseChicago
Survival Odds
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A Collider InteractiveCOLLIDERMore quizzes at collider.com
Here’s How Much ‘Clayface’ Has Grossed at the Box Office So Far
Clayface remains mostly unconnected to the larger DC Universe, mainly because its version of Batman hadn’t yet been introduced. The movie opened to mostly positive reviews from both critics and audiences. It’s now sitting at a “Certified Fresh” 77% critics’ score and a “Verified Hot” 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes — incredibly high for a body horror film. The aggregator website’s consensus reads, “Carving out a unique identity for itself in the DCU while closely resembling a litany of body horror classics, Clayface takes time to get going until it eventually morphs into an icky and satisfying revenge thriller.”
The movie, starring Tom Rhys Harries, Naomi Ackie, Max Minghella, and Eddie Marsan, debuted in more than 3,400 theaters three weeks ago. It’ll enter its fourth week of release having lost more than 1,000 locations nationwide so far. Clayface has so far grossed $111 million worldwide against a reported budget of $40 million.
You can watch the movie in theaters ahead of its planned PVOD debut on December 8, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
