“Disclosure Day,” a sci-fi adventure from Steven Spielberg, opened to No. 1 at the domestic box office with $44 million from 3,824 theaters.
Those ticket sales were above estimates of $35 million, though below the $50 million that rival studios argue a film of this scale should earn in its debut to justify its price tag. “Disclosure Day,” one of the summer’s biggest gambles, cost $115 million to produce and $80 million to market. Since theaters keep about half of revenues, “Disclosure Day” needs to earn about $300 million globally to be profitable.
Critics reviews are solid (81% on Rotten Tomatoes) while audience scores are mixed (a “B” grade on CinemaScore exit polls), so it’s unclear how ticket sales for “Disclosure Day” will hold in the coming weeks. However, Spielberg’s movies tend to have significant box office staying power. His prior summer blockbuster, 2018’s “Ready Player One,” opened to $41 million and ended up with $137 million domestically and $607 million worldwide. Internationally, “Disclosure Day” has generated $48.9 million from 73 markets for a global start of $92.9 million.
Spielberg, who helped create the summer box office season with “Jaws” in 1975, is the most commercial director of all time thanks to escapist blockbusters like “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “Jurassic Park” and “Raiders of the Lost Arc.” Spielberg has more recently favored prestige fare like “The Post,” “West Side Story” and “The Fabelmans,” which scored hordes of Oscar nominations but largely failed to introduce the prolific filmmaker to younger generations. That was reflected in the turnout for “Disclosure Day,” where 60% of moviegoers were 35 or older. “Disclosure Day” stars Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor as a meteorologist and a cybersecurity expert who join forces to expose the government’s cover-up of extraterrestrial life.
