Posted in: Movies, Warner Bros | Tagged: Clayface, Naomi Ackie

Clayface: Naomi Ackie Reportedly In Talks To Join The Cast

Naomi Ackie is reportedly in talks to join the cast of Clayface, plus some more story details and a potential budget.

Published Tue, 22 Jul 2025 16:37:06 -0500

Article Summary

Naomi Ackie is reportedly in talks to join the cast of Clayface, the upcoming DC horror-thriller film.
Clayface will follow an actor disfigured by a gangster who seeks help from a scientist, echoing The Fly.
Mike Flanagan wrote the script for Clayface, with Warner Bros. setting a September 11, 2026, release date.
The film's budget is set at $40 million, aiming for a smaller-scale, genre-focused DC movie experience.

The cast of Clayface is continuing to fill out as the start of production gets closer. We have a script, director, and a leading man, but now we have a potential leading lady. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Naomie Ackie is in talks to join the cast. We also have some new information about the tone of the film, with sources saying it has "shades and structure of The Fly." We also get a real-world name drop in some new plot information and a potential budget. Clayface will be on a smaller side with a $40 million budget, which is insane that we think that is a reasonable budget, and it shows how broken the system is, but that's a whole other thing.

A split image featuring Naomi Ackie on the left, dressed elegantly in a dark outfit, and an illustration of the comic book character Clayface on the right, depicting a large, monstrous figure with glowing eyes and a grim expression, while Batman is seen in action in the foreground. — L-R: London, United Kingdom – February 13, 2025: Naomi Ackie attends the "Mickey 17" World Premiere at Cineworld Leicester Square in London, England. Editorial credit: Fred Duval / Shutterstock.com | Batman: One Bad Day – Clayface Cover. Cover Art: Xermanico © DC Comics

The story, according to THR's sources, "centers on an ascending actor whose face is disfigured by a gangster. As a last resort, the actor turns to a fringe Elizabeth Holmes-style scientist for help. At first, the experiment is a successful but … well, it wouldn't be a horror movie if the story ended right there, would it?" There's a lot to unpack with the Holmes comparison, but we'll have to see what comes from this film as production continues.

Clayface Came Out Of Nowhere

We found out that a Clayface movie was reportedly in development with a script by Mike Flanagan late last year, and the early reports said that the project was set to start shooting this year. We don't have any other information about the film, but Flanagan has mentioned Clayface as a possible project he'd like to do. In a now-deleted tweet from 2021, Flanagan said, "Well I've wanted to do a Superman movie since I was a kid, but I would also be really keen to do a standalone Clayface movie as a horror/thriller/tragedy." We don't have a director, star, or any other information about the project yet, but things must be moving along behind the scenes because Warner Bros. has given the film a September 11, 2026, release date. The studio had a lot of success in early September, as recently as last year with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Early reports said that Clayface would have some sort of heavy role in The Batman Part II, but Gunn did what he did best and shut that down on social media. He replied to a fan asking if a post about Clayface and Scarecrow having roles in The Batman Part II was true, and he denied it, saying, "Firstly, no. Secondly, couldn't be the case as there hasn't been a first draft of a script." Initially, it seemed like the wording was a little vague, and he could be referring to a script for Clayface, but Gunn later clarified that the script for The Batman Part II was not finished.

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