Per THR, James Watkins has been tapped by DC Studios to direct the upcoming DC film, CLAYFACE. The trade describes the film as “…a Hollywood horror tale centering on 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.”
THE BATMAN SAGA‘s head honcho Matt Reeves and his 6th & Idaho production company are producing along with Lynn Harris and DC Studios bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran. The film has a Sept. 11, 2026 release date.
It sounds like they are going with a combination of the original Basil Karlo and the shape-shifting versions of the character. If you watched the animated BATMAN: CAPED CRUSADER series, the episode “And Be A Villain” (check out my review and BOF’s podcast of that episode HERE), they may be doing something close to that depiction of Clayface (you can see the look of the character in the heading above).
I’m personally not too familiar with Watkins, but the trade mentions that he’s known for doing “grounded horror movies.” His resume includes SPEAK NO EVIL, EDEN LAKE, and THE WOMAN IN BLACK (which I have seen and liked). Sounds like a good choice.
I know that James Gunn has said that CLAYFACE will be DCU, but I’m not 100% sold on that being the case. I find it interesting that Matt Reeves and 6th and Idaho are producing and the Batman stuff that he’s involved with — THE BATMAN SAGA, BATMAN: CAPED CRUSADER — are not DCU. Maybe CLAYFACE will be part of THE BATMAN SAGA? Maybe it’s an ELSEWORLDS tale?
Or perhaps it is indeed DCU and Reeves is in charge of everything Batman at Warner Bros./DC Studios…
Yeah, that’s probably it. – Bill “Jett” Ramey
