Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor in “Disclosure Day.”
Universal Studios
Steven Spielberg’s alien movie Disclosure Day, starring Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor, is tracking to open on the softer side at the box office despite mostly glowing reviews.
Disclosure Day, which marks Spielberg’s first film as a director since his 2022 semi-autobiographical drama The Fabelmans, plays in Thursday previews before opening in theaters nationwide on Friday.
The film follows a cybersecurity expert (O’Connor) who establishes a connection with a TV meteorologist (Blunt) that may lead to the worldwide disclosure of government secrets about the existence of alien contact on Earth. Scripted by David Koepp from an original story by Spielberg, Disclosure Day also stars Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, Eve Hewson and Wyatt Russell.
Joining an increasingly crowded summer movie schedule has surprisingly seen two low-budgeted indies — Obsession and Backrooms — bring in blockbuster numbers, Disclosure Day is projected by Deadline to earn $35 million in the film’s opening Friday to Sunday frame.
Steven Spielberg on the set of “Disclosure Day.”
Universal Pictures
Unfortunately for the film’s studio, Universal Pictures, the projected number for Disclosure Day comes in below the top five openings of Spielberg-directed films at the domestic box office before inflation.
Spielberg’s 2008 action adventure Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull had the biggest domestic opening for all of the director’s films with $101.1 million, followed by 1997’s Jurassic Park: The Lost World with $72.1 million and 2005’s War of the Worlds at $64.8 million.
Rounding out the top five are Spielberg’s 1993 behemoth Jurassic Park with $50.1 million in its opening frame and Ready Player One, which earned $41.7 million domestically during its first weekend in 2018.
While Deadline is projecting a soft opening for Disclosure Day, Variety reported on Tuesday that the film is tracking to make anywhere from $35 million to $50 million this weekend, domestically. Box Office Pro, meanwhile. is forecasting a $40 million to $50 million opening for the film.
A $35 Million Opening Won’t Hurt ‘Disclosure Day’ As Much As ‘Masters Of The Universe’s’ Soft Opening
While a $35 million opening is a less-than-desirable figure for any would-be summer movie blockbuster, it won’t sting Universal Pictures as much for Disclosure Day as it it does Amazon MGM Studios’ Masters of the Universe and its paltry opening last weekend.
The second live-action big-screen iteration of the He-Man toy tale — following the 1987 movie version — Masters of the Universe earned $29.4 million in its June 5-7 frame against a $200 million production budget, per Variety, before marketing costs (which have not been disclosed).
Despite employing Steven Spielberg and a high-profile cast, Disclosure Day, according to Variety, had a modest production budget of $115 million with a marketing spend of $80 million. Suddenly, a $30 million domestic opening doesn’t look as dire as it does for films like Masters of the Universe or the vastly underperforming Disney sci-fi adventure Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu after the film’s steep dive in business after its opening weekend.
Rated PG-13, Disclosure Day plays in Thursday previews before opening in theaters nationwide on Friday.