Friday, October 23, 2026, was supposed to be a coronation. DC Studios’ Clayface opens wide in more than 3,400 theaters today, with forecasters projecting a $25–30 million debut. Instead, the weekend has turned into the most unpredictable box-office fight of the year — because a three-hour documentary about disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is expanding nationwide at exactly the same moment, and trade reports say it could take the No. 1 spot outright.
A24’s You Can See Everything, directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, is the movie nobody saw coming — literally. It opened last weekend to $15.6 million from just 855 theaters, the second-biggest documentary opening in history behind only Fahrenheit 9/11 ($23.9 million in 2004). Now A24 is expanding it to roughly 1,800 theaters (with some trade outlets reporting 2,500+ screens), and weekend-two projections of $15–20 million keep it within striking distance of the horror blockbuster.
The combatants
Clayface is a genuine gamble for DC Studios. Directed by James Watkins (Speak No Evil) from a script by horror specialist Mike Flanagan, it’s an R-rated body-horror origin story for the second-tier Batman villain — made without a Batman, without an Avengers-style team, and on a lean $44 million budget. Tom Rhys Harries stars as Matt Hagen, a Coast City actor whose face is destroyed on a mob boss’s orders, with Naomi Ackie as the scientist whose experimental nanotechnology rebuilds it — badly.
The film is the third release under DC Studios chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran, following last year’s Superman and this summer’s Supergirl, which reportedly grossed under $75 million domestically and was viewed internally as a misfire. A solid Clayface debut would prove the DCU can thrive in genre-sized packages — a failed one would deepen the doubts.
You Can See Everything is the opposite bet paying off spectacularly. A24’s month-long platform strategy — scarcity, sold-out shows, and Gen-Z curiosity — produced more than 2,000 sold-out screenings in its opening frame. Roughly 70% of the audience was under 35, and weekday grosses have stayed muscular: over $2.5 million on both Monday and Tuesday. If the momentum holds, the film could clear $20 million in its second weekend — numbers virtually unheard of for a documentary.
The weekend forecast, by the numbers
| Film | Theaters | Weekend forecast | Frame |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clayface (Warner Bros./DC) | 3,400+ | $25–30M | Opening |
| You Can See Everything (A24) | ~1,800 | $15–20M | Week 2 |
| Street Fighter (Paramount) | 3,575 | $8–13M | Week 2 |
Forecasts come from Boxoffice Pro’s weekend preview, published this week. Street Fighter, last weekend’s champion with a $30.77 million debut, is expected to fall hard in week two — as have most video-game adaptations — clearing the runway for the top two to fight it out.
Why this race is so strange — and so important
Documentaries do not fight comic-book movies for opening-weekend crowns. That is simply not a sentence anyone expected to write. You Can See Everything is drawing young, horror-adjacent, controversy-curious audiences — the same young adults Clayface needs — and its expansion means it will be playing in the multiplex next door to the DC release all weekend.
The stakes cut both ways. If Clayface holds the top spot, Gunn’s genre-experiment thesis looks validated ahead of the planned Brave and the Bold Batman adventure. If the documentary dethrones it, Hollywood will spend the winter arguing about what that says — about DC, about A24’s release strategy, and about whether the most reliable box-office engine of 2026 turned out to be real-life fraud.
The final numbers land Monday. Until then, keep one stat in mind: the film that was supposed to own this weekend needed more than 3,400 screens to do it. The challenger might do it from half as many.
FAQ: Clayface vs. You Can See Everything box office
When does Clayface release?
Clayface releases theatrically on October 23, 2026, in more than 3,400 North American theaters.
What is You Can See Everything?
A three-hour A24 documentary by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim following Elizabeth Holmes in the weeks before her incarceration for fraud. It premiered at Telluride and opened to $15.6 million from 855 theaters.
Could the documentary really beat Clayface at the box office?
It’s possible. Clayface is forecast at $25–30 million, but The Wrap reports the expanded documentary could take No. 1 if its second-weekend surge continues — its Monday and Tuesday grosses both topped $2.5 million.
How much did You Can See Everything make on opening weekend?
$15.6 million from 855 theaters, the second-biggest documentary opening ever behind Fahrenheit 9/11 ($23.9 million in 2004).
What other movies are opening this weekend?
Limited releases include Human, Love Language, Possible Love, Terrestrial, and The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, plus a live BTS concert viewing in theaters on Saturday.