DC's Clayface movie confirmed to be in the hands of Mike Flanagan
The horror director will write Clayface, but is unlikely to direct it according to current reports
Last month we heard horror king Mike Flanagan might be working on a Clayface movie for DC, a report that has now been confirmed.
DC Studios has revealed Flanagan has been commissioned to write a script for the movie, according to Deadline.
As we heard back in November, though, Flanagan is not going to direct the film. He’ll be busy with his entry in the Exorcist series, which is expected to go into production next year ahead of a 2026 release.
The writer/director, currently best known for his fistful of horror TV shows including The Haunting of Hill House and, most recent, The Fall of the House of User, has some history with this Clayface project.
He was the one who initially pitched the concept to DC, and tweeted about his wish to make a Clayface film in 2021.
Back then Flanagan said he saw the project as a “horror/thriller/tragedy” story, which links into the character’s origin story.
Remoulding the Clayface story
While there have ben several iterations of the Clayface villain throughout the DC timeline, the original was an actor called Basil Karlo who loses the plot when Hollywood dares to remake one of his films. Karlo first appeared in Detective Comics in 1940, just a few years after its first issue in 1937.
Clayface has appeared in animated Batman shows a few times, including the 90s Batman: The Animated Series. But he is yet to feature in a full-on live action movie.
Variety writes filming is expected to start “early next year” but there’s still no word on who is in line to direct.
If this feat of timing is pulled off, Clayface will be one of the first movies to hit screens fully under the DC stewardship of James Gunn and Peter Safran.
While the pair have been DC studio heads since 2022, it’s only with 2025’s Superman (starring David Corenswet) the new era DC cinema truly begins.