"Disclosure Day," a sci-fi adventure directed by Steven Spielberg, opened at number one in the domestic box office with $44 million from 3,824 theaters. These ticket sales were higher than the expected $35 million but still lower than the $50 million that some studios believe a film of this size should make to be worth its cost. "Disclosure Day" is one of the summer's biggest bets, with $115 million spent on production and $80 million on marketing. Since theaters usually get about half of the revenue, "Disclosure Day" needs to make roughly $300 million worldwide to be profitable.
Critics gave the film positive reviews with an 81% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but audience opinions were mixed, with a "B" on CinemaScore exit polls.
It's unclear how well the movie will do in the coming weeks. However, Spielberg's movies often do well over time. For example, his 2018 film "Ready Player One" made $41 million opening weekend and went on to earn $137 million domestically and $607 million worldwide. So far, "Disclosure Day" has made $48.9 million from 73 international markets, giving it a global start of $92.9 million.
David A. Gross, who runs the box office newsletter FranchiseRe, says there's no direct connection between reviews, word-of-mouth, and box office success.
"No one really knows where this film is headed," he said. He believes that international audiences could help the film do well over time, since sci-fi stories are easy for everyone to understand and enjoy.
Spielberg, who started the summer box office with "Jaws" in 1975, is known for creating big, escapist blockbusters like "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," "Jurassic Park," and "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Recently, he has made more serious films like "The Post," "West Side Story," and "The Fabelmans," which received many Oscar nominations but didn't attract younger audiences.
This is reflected in the audience for "Disclosure Day," where 60% of the viewers were 35 or older. The initial crowds were excited to see the twisty conspiracy thriller on large screens, with large formats making up 48% of the total earnings. The film stars Emily Blunt and Josh O'Connor as a meteorologist and cybersecurity expert who team up to uncover the government’s cover-up of alien life.
Jim Orr, the domestic distribution president at Universal, called Spielberg one of the greatest filmmakers in history.
He noted that audiences chose the film mainly because of Spielberg. "It's a movie that people will talk about for a long time. It's a theatrical event that makes you think," he added.
Elsewhere at the domestic box office, new releases like Paramount's horror parody "Scary Movie" and Amazon MGM's toy adaptation "Masters of the Universe" both saw a sharp drop in attendance.
"Scary Movie" dropped to third place with $14.5 million from 3,504 theaters, bringing its total domestic sales to $84.5 million and $173.1 million worldwide. Despite the drop, the film only cost $30 million to produce and is expected to be profitable.
"Masters of the Universe," on the other hand, has a harder time justifying its high cost.
It dropped to fifth place with $8.6 million from 3,677 locations, earning only $45.7 million in North America and $84 million worldwide. With a production budget of almost $200 million, it looks like one of the year's biggest financial disappointments. The movie is based on the 1980s Mattel toy and cartoon, and its turnout suggests it isn't appealing beyond a small group of older males.
Meanwhile, "Obsession" continues to do well in its fifth weekend, earning $19 million with a 25% drop from its previous weekend and securing second place on the box office.
More impressively, the horror hit, directed by YouTube creator Curry Barker, has had four consecutive weekends with higher earnings than its initial $17 million debut. Now, with $188.3 million in North America and $265 million globally, "Obsession" is the highest-grossing film for its distributor, Focus Features.
"Backrooms," another horror film, took the fourth spot with $12 million from 3,404 theaters in its third weekend.
Directed by YouTube creator Kane Parsons, the film has made $160 million in North America and $262 million worldwide. After less than two weekends, "Backrooms" overtook "Marty Supreme" ($191 million) as A24's highest-grossing movie of all time.
Right now, Hollywood is feeling positive because the domestic box office is up 13% compared to last year, according to Rentrak. What's more interesting is that the summer season is only 3.4% behind 2019, the last year before the pandemic, when "Avengers: Endgame" set many records. Next weekend's "Toy Story 5" is expected to be the first major movie of the summer to make more than $100 million, which could help close that gap. Other upcoming movies like the "Despicable Me" spinoff "Minions & Monsters," Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey," and "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" are also set to keep movie theaters busy throughout the summer.
Rentrak's head of marketplace trends, Paul Dergarabedian, says, "This is one of the most unusual, interesting, and unpredictable summer movie seasons.
With 'Toy Story 5,' 'The Odyssey,' 'Minions & Monsters,' 'Moana,' and 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' on the horizon, I believe this strong summer box office momentum will continue."
