Clayface Conquers the Box Office While a Documentary About a Fraud Becomes a Hit
By Dakota Jones
LD3 News Desk: Film, TV & Streaming
Saturday, October 24, 2026
Clayface is on top. The stranger story is right behind it: a three-hour documentary about Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is pulling in a second-weekend crowd that most new studio releases would gladly borrow.
That’s the box office this weekend. A comic-book horror film leads, while a documentary about a convicted fraudster keeps selling tickets. Hollywood, you may resume acting surprised.
The weekend snapshot
| Rank | Film | Friday gross | Weekend projection |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clayface | $10.4 million | $24 million–$25 million |
| 2 | You Can See Everything | $6.1 million | $19 million–$20 million |
| 3 | Wildwood | $4.2 million | About $11 million |
| 4–5 | Wicker | $2.36 million | $5.5 million–$6 million |
| Top five | Street Fighter | $2.34 million | About $8 million |
Friday figures include previews where reported. Weekend totals are projections, not final results.
Clayface takes No. 1. The numbers are holding.
Warner Bros./DC’s Clayface, directed by James Watkins, earned $10.4 million Friday, including previews, from 3,458 North American theaters. Deadline projects an opening weekend of $24 million–$25 million; Variety says it looks set to reach $24 million by Sunday.
The film cost about $44 million to produce, net, before marketing and distribution costs. That’s a notably leaner bet than a giant superhero tentpole. Audiences gave it an A- CinemaScore, matching James Gunn’s Superman. Rotten Tomatoes scores stand at 93% from audiences and 75% from critics, according to Deadline.
Tom Rhys Harries plays Matt Hagen, alongside Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella and Eddie Marsan. The weekend also marks a back-to-back No. 1 win for the combined Paramount-Warner Bros., following last weekend’s Street Fighter.
A useful reminder for the studios: not every film needs a budget the size of a small nation’s annual arts funding to make a strong opening. Sometimes a focused genre story and a clear audience do the job.
The documentary is the real plot twist
A24’s You Can See Everything, co-directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, landed in second place with $6.1 million on its second Friday, up 11%. It played in 2,655 theaters, after opening in 855, and is projected to earn $19 million–$20 million over the weekend.
The film follows Holmes, the Theranos founder, in the month before she began an 11-year prison sentence. It’s a documentary about a public figure whose company’s fraud became a defining business scandal. No need to invent a thriller premise; the real story already came with plenty of plot.
There’s a discrepancy in the outlets’ cumulative figures worth flagging rather than smoothing over: Variety reports $31.7 million domestic so far, while Deadline pegs the 10-day total at $44.6 million. Both report a strong second-weekend estimate. Those totals don’t match, so we’re keeping each figure attributed to its source instead of pretending they reconcile.
That’s the absurd, and fascinating, box office angle. A documentary about a fraudster is outrunning most new studio titles, with a broad theater expansion and another projected weekend near $20 million. The lesson isn’t that documentaries have suddenly replaced superheroes. It’s that a compelling real-world story, a distinctive filmmaking approach and audience conversation can turn a niche release into a genuine theatrical event.
Wildwood and Wicker round out the new releases
Laika’s stop-motion adventure Wildwood, directed by Travis Knight, brought in $4.2 million Friday and is tracking toward an $11 million opening. Its voice cast includes Carey Mulligan and Jacob Tremblay. That’s a solid launch for a film made with a form of animation that takes patience, craft and an almost heroic willingness to move tiny objects one frame at a time.
Black Bear’s Wicker, an offbeat romantic comedy featuring Olivia Colman, Peter Dinklage, Alexander Skarsgård and Elizabeth Debicki, earned $2.36 million Friday from 1,471 theaters. It’s projected to open at $5.5 million–$6 million.
Meanwhile, Street Fighter remains in the top five, adding $2.34 million Friday. Its cumulative domestic gross is more than $46 million. Deadline estimates the full North American weekend will reach about $97.6 million, up 29% over the same weekend last year.
What the weekend says about moviegoing
The rankings show several audiences showing up for very different reasons: comic-book horror, a buzzy real-life documentary, handmade animation and an unconventional romantic comedy. That mix matters. The theatrical marketplace isn’t one audience making one decision; it’s multiple communities responding to films that give them a reason to leave home.
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FAQ
Is Clayface No. 1 this weekend?
Yes. Saturday estimates put it first, with a projected $24 million–$25 million opening.
How much is You Can See Everything expected to earn this weekend?
About $19 million–$20 million in its second weekend, according to Variety and Deadline.
Why is the documentary’s reported total different between outlets?
Variety reports $31.7 million domestic to date; Deadline reports a 10-day total of $44.6 million. The figures differ, so they’re presented with attribution.
Final thoughts
Clayface has the top spot, and its budget, audience grade and projected opening make the result worth watching. But the weekend’s headline is the documentary holding at No. 2 while expanding to thousands of theaters. Audiences are still willing to turn out for stories that feel distinctive, and sometimes the strangest box office result is simply the one people can’t stop talking about.