"Clayface" Finds Its Director

James Watkins has been tapped to direct DC’s creature feature "Clayface", slated to hit theaters on September 11, 2026.

DC co-bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran will produce the movie alongside The Batman helmer Matt Reeves and Lynn Harris, with Chantal Nong serving as executive producer.

Scripted by Mike Flanagan, "Clayface" is rumored to be a horror-thriller tragedy, with the lead protagonist not expected to be portrayed as the notorious villain he’s known as in the Batman canon.

The character got his DC introduction as part of Detective Comics #40 in June 1940. Originally, he was portrayed as a moderately successful actor who adopted the identity of a character he’d portrayed in a horror pic after turning to crime.

He has a body seemingly made out of clay and has appeared over the years in various films, series, animated works, video games, and other forms of media.

Watkins is coming off of "Speak No Evil", Universal’s remake of the hit Danish horror film from Christian Tafdrup, which grossed over $76M worldwide last fall.

The multi-hyphenate co-created the AMC series "McMafia", also directing features like "Eden Lake", "The Woman in Black", and "The Take". Additional TV credits include "The Ipcress File" and "Black Mirror".