Fielder's Documentary Could Beat DC's 'Clayface' This Weekend

A24's three-hour documentary "You Can See Everything" may edge out DC's horror film "Clayface" for the weekend's No. 1 box office spot.

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Fielder's Documentary Could Beat DC's 'Clayface' This Weekend

By @sharedot · · 6 pages

  • Film
  • Box Office

A24's three-hour documentary "You Can See Everything" may edge out DC's horror film "Clayface" for the weekend's No. 1 box office spot.

A Documentary Is Challenging a DC Movie for No. 1

This weekend's box office race is, by the accounts of both outlets covering it, genuinely unsettled.

World of Reel frames the fight as a duel between Warner Bros./DC's 'Clayface' and A24's documentary 'You Can See Everything,' co-directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim — and calls the possibility of a non-fiction film beating a superhero release 'a sentence nobody expected to write this year.'

According to World of Reel, 'You Can See Everything' opened to $15.6M last weekend, an almost unheard-of figure for a documentary, and ranked No. 1 every day from Monday through Thursday, taking $2.2M on Thursday.

AOL, citing Deadline, similarly reports that Clayface's projected $20M–$25M opening could see it 'challenge for the weekend's top spot' as the documentary expands.

The Numbers Behind the Upset Bid

The measurable substrate is straightforward. Per AOL, citing Deadline, 'Clayface' earned an estimated $3.5 million from Thursday previews, with its domestic opening weekend projected at $20 million to $25 million.

Those previews, AOL notes, surpassed 'Kraven the Hunter' ($2M before an $11M opening) and nearly matched 'Birds of Prey' ($4M before a $33M debut).

World of Reel puts the documentary's expansion at 855 locations to 2,600 on Friday and projects Clayface at $20M–$23M domestically with a $45M worldwide start, betting on 'Clayface' to win by $1M or $2M.

The two outlets' projection ranges differ slightly — World of Reel says $20M–$23M, AOL reports $20M–$25M — so the outcome hinges on how the Fielder film holds in its wider rollout.

Why It's Surprising, and Why Both Films Can Win

The surprise is not just the matchup but the economics.

World of Reel emphasizes that 'Clayface' cost roughly $44M to produce — AOL reports about $40 million — making it a leaner, smaller-scale DC bet that doesn't need a blockbuster opening to profit; the standalone horror follows Matt Hagen, a disfigured actor played by Tom Rhys Harries, directed by James Watkins.

Meanwhile, a three-hour documentary earning $25.6 million in its first week, as AOL reports, is close to unprecedented for non-fiction. Last weekend's champ 'Street Fighter' is expected to drop 65% on weak word of mouth, leaving the field open for the two newcomers to duel at the top.

The Wreckage Elsewhere: 'Wildwood' and 'Klara'

The same weekend holds the pack's most painful numbers.

World of Reel reports that Laika's stop-motion 'Wildwood,' released through Fathom, took in around $1M in previews on 2,930+ screens against a budget of more than $100M, with $8M–$9M looking like the best case — despite a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 98% audience score.

Worse still for Sony, Taika Waititi's 'Klara and the Sun' managed just $85K in previews after the studio cut its rollout from 1,900 screens to roughly 800, against a budget around $20M, according to World of Reel.

Black Bear's 'Wicker' opened to a soft $620K across 1,471 locations despite 92% and 93% Rotten Tomatoes scores. Critical acclaim, this weekend suggests, guarantees nothing at the ticket window.

Sources

  1. worldofreel.com › Box Office: 'Clayface' Hits $3.5M in Previews...
  2. aol.com › Clayface's Thursday Previews Reveal if DCU Movie Will Beat You Can See Everything at the Box Office

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