James Watkins, finest identified for steering Converse No Evil and The Girl in Black, has been tapped to helm DC’s upcoming Clayface film. The venture, written by horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan, is being overseen by DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran.
DC Studios has been trying to find a director for a number of months, with Gunn reportedly assembly with Watkins final Thursday for a last presentation earlier than making the choice. With Watkins now connected, a deal is being finalized because the studio gears as much as start manufacturing later this 12 months. The movie is scheduled for launch on September 11, 2026, and might be one in every of DC’s extra modestly budgeted initiatives.
What we all know concerning the Clayface film
First launched in 1940, Clayface has been portrayed in numerous types throughout DC media, usually depicted as a shapeshifting villain able to molding his look into anybody or something. Based on The Hollywood Reporter, the upcoming movie is budgeted at $40 million and can middle on a B-movie actor who injects himself with an experimental substance to remain related. Nonetheless, the process goes horribly fallacious, turning him right into a grotesque, ever-changing creature manufactured from residing clay.
Casting for Clayface has but to be introduced, however Gunn and Safran have beforehand acknowledged that DC Studios goals for continuity between its animated and live-action initiatives. Which means actors voicing characters in DC’s animated exhibits may reprise their roles in live-action. Alan Tudyk at present voices Clayface in Harley Quinn and Creature Commandos.
The Clayface film is a part of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s broader technique to stability large-scale superhero movies with smaller, genre-driven initiatives. Whereas Superman will function the flagship movie for the DC Universe reboot, Clayface represents a distinct strategy, delivering a horror-focused story centered on one in every of Batman’s most unusual villains.
Supply: The Hollywood Reporter
