‘Clayface’ tops global box office with $43 debut; ‘Wildwood’ lands with $15m

Worldwide box office: Oct 23-25

Credit: Rentrak. All figures are estimates

‘Clayface’ on track for profitable outcome

Warner Bros’ DC Studios is bouncing back from its Supergirl disappointment with the opening numbers for Clayface: an estimated $24.0m in North America and $19.0m across international markets.

While the $43m opening is lower that Supergirl’s $67m worldwide debut in June, the new film looks on a steady trajectory to profitability given a fiscally responsible production budget reported at $44m. Supergirl, which grossed $126.5m lifetime in cinemas, had a production budget above $170m – leaving plenty of red ink on the balance sheet when revenue shares with cinemas and marketing costs are factored in.

Among international markets, Clayface scored best in UK/Ireland, with an estimated $2.6m, almost double second-placed Mexico ($1.4m). Next come Australia ($1.3m), France ($1.2m), Brazil ($879,000), Italy ($873,000) and Spain ($721,000). In Brazil, the film faced the distraction of the presidential runoff election on Sunday.

Germany, the ninth-biggest opener with an estimated $593,000, is traditionally a weaker territory for DC Studios, relative to the other large European countries. In 2025, Germany was well behind the pace on DC hit Superman, grossing $6.5m lifetime – which compared to $37.9m in UK/Ireland and $13.2m in France.

Still to open Clayface are Poland, Japan and Vietnam, which all welcome the film this coming weekend.

Clayface is directed by James Watkins (Speak No Evil) from a screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini. Tom Rhys Harries and Naomi Ackie lead the cast, with David Dencik, Max Minghella and Eddie Marsan.

‘Wildwood’ makes solid start

Animation house Laika will be hoping for sustained success for its new stop-motion film Wildwood after opening numbers that are a big improvement on 2019’s Missing Link, albeit in a similar ballpark to 2016’s Kubo And The Two Strings.

Wildwood has debuted with an estimated $11.8m in North America (via Fathom Entertainment) and $2.9m across 10 early international markets, yielding an opening salvo of $14.7m. UK/Ireland, via Black Bear, looks set to deliver close to half of the international opening number (around $1.4m). Australia comes next with an estimated $391,000, followed by Italy ($249,000) and Spain ($183,000).

Missing Link launched with $5.9m in North America on its way to a weak $26.6m worldwide lifetime total. Kubo And The Two Strings began with $12.6m in North America, and reached $76.3m worldwide lifetime. (Comparisons in this report are not adjusted for inflation.)

Given the buzz on Wildwood and its perceived status as an Oscar frontrunner, Laika must be hoping to achieve a higher box office bar with its new film. However, providing a challenge is the certification: PG-13 in the US and 12A in the UK, after the five previous Laika films were all rated PG in both markets. Can the loss of families with younger children be compensated by stronger teen and adult audiences?

Providing a target for Wildwood are Laika’s Boxtrolls and ParaNorman, two films that reached similar worldwide lifetime totals – respectively $108.3m and $107.4m in 2014 and 2012, according to available data. In 2010, Coraline grossed $127.0m worldwide, and re-releases take that number up to $188.8m – Laika’s biggest success to date.

The expansive Wildwood, which is based on the 2011 novel by Colin Melloy and Carson Ellis, has a production budget reported at $100m. Laika CEO Travis Knight (Kubo And The Two Strings) directs. The global rollout is ongoing, and stretches into January 2027.

‘You Can See Everything’ rises to second place at global box office

Hefty falls for other titles in the market such as Street Fighter, plus the relative lack of powerful new releases, have helped You Can See Everything rise from last weekend’s seventh place in the worldwide ranking to second place this time around. This is despite currently playing in just a single market: North America.

The A24 documentary saw box office rise by 25% on an expanded footprint of cinemas. Estimated second-weekend takings of $19.5m take that total after 10 days to $45.1m.

You Can See Everything is directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, and the film has grossed in 10 days almost as much as Oppenheim’s other current film, scripted drama Primetime, has achieved after five weeks ($46.5m).

Both films will be profitable: Primetime has a production budget reported at $14.5m and You Can See Everything at $7m.

Global rollout for the documentary will follow. The UK/Ireland release is set for November 20 via A24.

Holdover titles dominate worldwide top 10 chart

In total, there are eight holdover titles in the worldwide weekend top 10 chart. Paramount’s Street Fighter topples from the top with an estimated $16.8m in its second session, falling 72% in North America and 59% across international markets. Worldwide total for the Paramount Pictures/ Legendary Pictures/ Capcom film after two weekends is $79.6m.

Sony’s Resident Evil is holding better, especially in international markets where the drop was 41% in its sixth weekend of play. Worldwide total is now $384.5m on the Zach Cregger film from TriStar Pictures, Constantin Film and Davis Films, buoyed by $65.0m so far in China, and setting a Resident Evil franchise record globally.

Tamil-language action comedy Jailer 2 and US studio titles Verity, Other Mommy, Heart Of The Beast and Whalefall make up the bottom half of the worldwide weekend top 10. Sliding out of the chart to make way for Clayface and Wildwood are Universal’s Sense And Sensibility and Chinese crime drama Traces Of Justice.

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