Tom Rhys Harries signs on to DC's horror flick Clayface
Tom Rhys Harries is to star in Clayface.
The 32-year-old actor has beat off competition from the likes of Sinners star Jack O'Connell, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes actor Tom Blyth and 1917's George MacKay for the leading role in DC's upcoming horror movie.
Speak No Evil director James Watkins has signed on to helm the project, which is slated to shoot at Warner Bros. Leavesden studio in the UK later this year as it marches towards its September 2026 release date.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Clayface will be a 'stripped down movie', with a budget of approximately $40 million.
The flick will reportedly follow a B-movie actor who becomes a walking mound of clay after injecting himself with a mystery substance in an attempt to stay relevant.
Watkins will be working from a script written by Doctor Sleep director Mike Flanagan, while The Batman filmmaker Matt Reeves will produce alongside Lynn Harris, and DC co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran.
DC's next movie will be Gunn's Superman, which is set to land in cinemas on 8 July 2025, and will usher in a new cinematic era for the studio.
Superman - which stars David Corenswet, Nicholas Hoult, Rachel Brosnahan and Nathan Fillion - will follow a young Clark Kent grapple with his dual identity as he rises to become Earth's protector against a powerful alien threat.
As humanity questions its need for a saviour, Superman must prove that hope is his greatest power.
Gunn previously teased Corenswet's Man of Steel would 'blow people away' in Superman.
During an appearance on a panel at New York Comic Con in October, the Guardians of the Galaxy director said: 'We're deep in the process of editing. David Corenswet is going to f****** blow people away. He is the movie star that everyone just dreams he could possibly be.
'I don't think anyone really understands the depth of this guy's talent dramatically, comedically. He's the best physical action star I've probably ever worked with.'
Corenswet's co-star Brosnahan - who will play Superman's love interest Lois Lane - also teased the blockbuster would 'stay true to the comics'.
Speaking to Deadline, she said: 'There's a lot of challenges for everybody in all different pockets of the worlds right now.
'And for a lot of the complaints that people have sometimes about superhero movies, at their core, they're about the goodness of people and how good we can be to each other, how the pursuit of truth and justice really are the American way, and that courage and hope can carry us through.
'And so, I feel like this movie really encapsulates all of that. It's a hopeful superhero movie, which I feel like is so true to the comics. So, I'm excited for audiences to see it and hopefully have some fun and enjoy the ride with us.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
4 hours ago
- Perth Now
Danny Boyle 'couldn't make Slumdog Millionaire today'
Danny Boyle "wouldn't be able to make" Slumdog Millionaire today. The 68-year-old filmmaker helmed the 2008 drama movie - which told the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the Juhu slums of Mumbai - but Danny believes the acclaimed film was of its time and that the world has now moved on. He told the Guardian newspaper: "Yeah, we wouldn't be able to make that now. And that's how it should be. It's time to reflect on all that. We have to look at the cultural baggage we carry and the mark that we've left on the world." The film - which starred Dev Patel and Freida Pinto - won a number of awards at the time, including seven BAFTA Awards and four Golden Globes. However, it received mixed reviews in India. Asked if the movie amounted to a form of colonialism, Danny replied: "No, no. Well, only in the sense that everything is. "At the time it felt radical. We made the decision that only a handful of us would go to Mumbai. We'd work with a big Indian crew and try to make a film within the culture. But you're still an outsider. It's still a flawed method. "That kind of cultural appropriation might be sanctioned at certain times. But at other times it cannot be." Danny remains proud of Slumdog Millionaire, but he feels that such films should be made by "a young Indian film-maker" instead. He said: "I'm proud of the film, but you wouldn't even contemplate doing something like that today. It wouldn't even get financed. Even if I was involved, I'd be looking for a young Indian film-maker to shoot it." Danny enjoyed his big career breakthrough with Trainspotting in 1996. The director helmed the hit drama film - which starred the likes of Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle - but Danny never imagined that the movie would become such a huge success. He recently told The Hollywood Reporter: "I remember there was a wave of disapproval of it building. They had shown a trailer or something on one of the TV movie shows here. And one of the prestigious critics said, 'Well, that looks shockingly irresponsible about drugs.' Things like that were building. "And then there was this journalist, Muriel Gray, and she wrote this piece about Irvine's [Welsh] book, and about the film. She spoke with authority saying, 'You do not know what you are talking about,' all these people piling disapproval on top of it. It was a tipping point." Danny relished the experience of working with Ewan on Trainspotting, remembering that the actor was "fanatical" about his role. The director said: "His agents were putting him in period romances, for which it was perfect. And he shaved it off before we'd offered him the part of Renton in Trainspotting. He shaved it off and lost weight. And then he continued to lose weight. He was fanatical about that. And he was right."
Perth Now
14 hours ago
- Perth Now
‘We feel really good about it': The Batman: Part II gets positive update from James Gunn
DC boss James Gunn has revealed he is expecting to receive a script for The Batman: Part II this month. The upcoming sequel had been delayed and rumours about the film's development troubles began to circulate online, though Gunn, 58, has now stressed The Batman: Part II is still in the works and he is expecting director Matt Reeves, 59, to hand in a screenplay later in June. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, he said: 'Listen, we're supposed to get a script in June. I hope that happens. 'We feel really good about it. Matt's excited. I talk to Matt all the time. I'm totally excited about it. So we can't wait to read the scripts, but we haven't read it yet, if that's your question.' The DC head added 'people should get off Matt's nut' and stop hassling him for updates about The Batman: Part II. Gunn said: 'People should get off Matt's nuts because it's like, let the guy write the screenplay in the amount of time he needs to write it. That's just the way it is. 'He doesn't owe you something because you like his movie. I mean, you like his movie because of Matt. So let Matt do things the way he does.' The Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker added he was 'irritated' by the constant bombardment of questions about the movie online. He said: 'I am irritated by people. I mean, it's just that thing people don't need to be entitled about. It's going to come out when he feels good about the screenplay. 'And Matt's not going to give me the screenplay until he feels good about the screenplay.' The Batman: Part II was initially due to hit cinemas in 2026, though was pushed back a year to October 2027 to give Reeves more time to finish the story. Although no plot details about the film are known, it has been confirmed Robert Pattinson's Dark Knight, Zoe Kravitz's Catwoman, Colin Farrell's The Penguin, Andy Serkis's Alfred Pennyworth and Jeffrey Wright's Gotham police officer James 'Jim' Gordon would all be returning for the sequel. While work on The Batman: Part II continues, it was recently announced the Caped Crusader would be getting his own villain spin-off movie through Clayface. The picture will star White Lines actor Tom Rhys Harries in the titular role, while Speak No Evil filmmaker James Watkins directs from a script written by Doctor Sleep's Mike Flanagan. Gunn explained Clayface - which will hit screens in September 2026 - would be set in the mainline DC Universe (DCU) opposed to the Elseworlds universe, like The Batman, which is separate to the DCU. Gunn said of bringing Clayface into the DCU: 'Well, I think it was just we needed DCU content. Mike Flanagan is somebody who I've been friendly with for a long time, and he wrote me about Clayface. 'He texted me about it really early on in my DC journey. Just being honest, I did not think that was something that was going to happen, but he came in and he pitched the idea and I was like, 'Oh s***! That's cool.' 'It's a body horror movie. It's a horror movie that, like any cool body horror movie, just happens to be in the DCU. 'And then he wrote the script, and the script was fantastic. We did not plan to do Clayface. That was really something he brought to us.'
Perth Now
16 hours ago
- Perth Now
Rebel Wilson targets more action comedy parts after Bride Hard
Rebel Wilson wants more action comedy roles after starring in Bride Hard. The 45-year-old actress reunites with her Pitch Perfect co-star Anna Camp in the new flick that centres on a chaotic wedding day and hopes to land similar roles in the future, even though she acknowledges that she is "not going to be in the John Wick franchise". Rebel told The Hollywood Reporter at the movie's Los Angeles premiere on Wednesday (18.06.25): "Obviously I'm not a serious action person, I'm not going to be in the John Wick franchise, but I feel like action comedy maybe there's a few roles coming up in that space which would be really fun." The Australian star plays secret agent Sam in the movie which sees her childhood best friend Betsy's (Camp) wedding crashed by armed mercenaries and says that she had been looking to work with her pal once again on a new project. Rebel said: "I love Anna, I think she's one of the world's best actresses - she can do anything, if you've seen her recently in You or Hysteria!, she's so multitalented. "This movie required a girl squad so I was like, 'Yeah, bring in Anna Camp.' She could play any role; she decided she wanted to be the bride and so we play besties yet again." The film is directed by Simon West and he says it was a straightforward decision to cast Anna because of her existing bond with Wilson. The director explained: "It was just easy because they're friends. There's so much else going on in the film and putting a film together, you go, 'How can we make that relationship work the best?' And getting somebody like Anna Camp who is already her best friend and has already worked with her and they know each other's timing, it just makes the whole thing so obvious." Meanwhile, Rebel revealed that she went into "beast mode" when it came to her physical preparation for the movie. The Bridesmaids star told People: "I was pretty strong during this movie. I trained for a full five weeks and did conditioning for it, and then I had to be really kind of in beast mode, but I really enjoyed it, getting paid to almost be fit, which is really good." However, the actress explained that she was almost left "permanently disfigured" by a "freak accident" on set. She told Access Hollywood: "In a fight scene, a gun accidentally got whacked across my face. "It was just a freak accident, and my nose got split open, so I left set. It was my last night of shooting. I was like, 'How unlucky can I be?' "I was freaking out. They take an ambulance and they have to call a plastic surgeon, because if they didn't, I would have been permanently disfigured. So we got the plastic surgeon, they did all the stitches, and you can't tell now."
