There have been some conflicting reports regarding the upcoming Clayface movie doing the rounds over the past week or so, with Deadline claiming that Jeff Wadlow is in contention to direct, and THR disputing the filmmaker's potential involvement while adding that J.A. Bayona has met with DC Studios about the gig.
Speak No Evil director James Watkins is the one name the trades do agree on, and according to MTTSH, he is still the "clear favorite and top choice" to helm the project.
The scooper also claims the recent rumor that James McAvoy is in talks to play the lead is not accurate, as casting has not begun just yet.
The script by Mike Flanagan is reportedly complete, but he is unavailable to direct due to his commitments to a Carrie TV series and the new Exorcist movie. The project has been given an official release date of September 11, 2026.
Based on comments from James Gunn, the movie will be set in the DCU, as opposed to The Batman director Matt Reeves' "BatVerse."
"Exciting news out of [DC] Studios today as [Clayface], a DCU story from a script by Mike Flanagan, has been OFFICIALLY greenlit. Clayface premieres in 2026."
DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran shared a few new details on the Flanagan script, noting that Clayface is indeed going to be a full-on horror movie in the same vein as David Cronenberg's The Fly. THR recently provided some intriguing updates, and it sounds like the movie is also going to take more than a little inspiration from Coralie Fargeat's body horror hit, The Substance.
"Clayface, you see, is a Hollywood horror story, according to our sources, using the most popular incarnation of the villain – a B-movie actor who injects himself with a substance to keep himself relevant only to find out that he can reshape his face and form, becoming a walking piece of clay.".
Clayface has a reported budget of $40 million, and is looking to shoot in a variety of locales, including Vancouver, Toronto, and New Jersey or Atlanta.
Alan Tudyk recently provided the voice of Clayface in James Gunn's animated Creature Commandos series, meaning there's a chance he could also play the character in live-action at some point.
What do you make of these updates? Do you have any interest in a solo Clayface DCU film? Who would you like to see direct? Drop us a comment down below.