Speak No Evil director James Watkins will direct Clayface movie.
Previously, DC Studios narrowed down it’s director candidates to Truth or Dare‘s Jeff Waldow and Watkins. An unnamed source say that DC Studios co-president James Gunn met with Watkins a few weeks back for a final presentation. Apparently the presentation was so impressive that he won the directing gig. Currently, a deal is being formulated for Watkins to do the main project.
Speak No Evil is Watkins most recent success. It garnered both critical acclaim and was a commercial box office success. However, Watkins also made other horror films, like Eden Lake, The Woman in Black, and an episode of Black Mirror.
His horror resume is intentional since Clayface will be more of a body horror film. Fellow horror alum Mike Flanagan wrote the treatment for the movie. In the past, Flanagan envisioned the “Clayface movie as a horror/thriller/tragedy.”
James Watkin and His Horror Roots
So far, Watkin’s horror credentials are more related to psychological horror or thrillers, as opposed to over-the-top slasher movies. It is easy to envision Clayface being a psychological horror with body horror elements in it. Think of how screwed up the protagonist of Matt Hagen will be when he realizes his body melts and molds into different shapes. Or his powers to shapeshift into different identities. Is anything real when he can literally look like anybody? Who is Hagen’s real identity or is just a nobody taking on the personalities of others?
The tragic pathos of Clayface practically writes itself. It is fertile creative grounds for Watkins to take it into a billion different directions.
Clayface will hit theaters on September 11, 2026.
Source: Hollywoodreporter.com
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