{"rewrite":{"id":"r_de04d44a81530b1243b2a6d3","clusterId":"c_e581db0166a672ff2ba08ffb","slug":"clayface-director-cites-tetsuo-and-godzilla-minus-one-as-influences","model":"deepseek-v4-1-flash","headline":"Clayface Director Cites Tetsuo and Godzilla Minus One as Influences","summary":"James Watkins, director of DC Studios' Clayface, said in a remote interview that Tetsuo and Godzilla Minus One shaped the film. He named David Cronenberg's The Fly as a model for the transformation story. The film stars Tom Rhys Harries as an actor whose face is ruined and who turns to a forbidden mud-based treatment. It opens in Japan on October 30.","whyItMatters":"Watkins is describing a monster film built around practical effects and emotional realism rather than jump scares, which is the case he is making for an R-rated DC psychological thriller whose title creature stays hidden until release.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eThe film follows Matt Hagen, an actor whose face is destroyed in an incident and who undergoes a forbidden treatment using mud. The procedure restores his looks, then the side effects wear him down and turn him into a creature that can shift shape at will. Watkins said he showed James Gunn intense R-rated visuals during their meeting and got a positive response. Practical effects carry much of the horror, including a scene in which Matt tries to cut open his own dissolving eye. Watkins also said the full form of Clayface will not be revealed before the film opens.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Watkins names The Fly as the model, which puts Clayface in body-horror tradition rather than superhero effects. The mud treatment is a Cronenberg device wearing a DC release date.","twitterPost":"Watkins points to The Fly, so Clayface's horror is bodily. The forbidden mud treatment is the transformation mechanism, not a power.","threadsPost":"Watkins citing Tetsuo and Godzilla Minus One points to practical, body-driven horror. His stated model is The Fly, and the plot's forbidden mud treatment fits that lineage: Clayface's transformation is a disease, not a power set. The DC logo is the odd part.","newsletterBlurb":"James Watkins, director of DC Studios' Clayface, told Cinema Today that Tetsuo and Godzilla Minus One influenced the film, and that Cronenberg's The Fly was the model for its transformation story. Tom Rhys Harries plays an actor who turns to a forbidden mud-based treatment and becomes a shape-shifting monster. The film opens in Japan on October 30, with the full creature withheld until release.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Cinema Today\",\"url\":\"https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0157220\",\"title\":\"DC『クレイフェイス』監督、『鉄男 TETSUO』『ゴジラ-1.0』から強い影響　怪物となる主人公の人間ドラマを追求\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":5467,"outputTokens":570,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1791188076,"createdAt":"2026-10-05T08:11:38.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-10-05T08:13:27.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-05T08:13:27.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_e581db0166a672ff2ba08ffb","canonicalTitle":"DC『クレイフェイス』監督、『鉄男 TETSUO』『ゴジラ-1.0』から強い影響　怪物となる主人公の人間ドラマを追求","representativeArticleId":"a_630bc3db02a68336bcf9833d","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"Clayface\",\"Tetsuo: The Iron Man\",\"Godzilla Minus One\"],\"studios\":[\"DC\"],\"people\":[],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"other\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-10-04T09:02:00.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-10-04T09:02:00.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-05T08:13:22.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Cinema Today","url":"https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0157220","title":"DC『クレイフェイス』監督、『鉄男 TETSUO』『ゴジラ-1.0』から強い影響　怪物となる主人公の人間ドラマを追求"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["Clayface","Tetsuo: The Iron Man","Godzilla Minus One"],"studios":["DC"],"people":[],"type":"news","domain":"other","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}