Steven Spielberg signs his best US box office launch in nearly 20 years with Disclosure Day

With $45 million collected for its first weekend in North America, his new sci-fi work has had its best start since Indiana Jones 4.

He’s a filmmaker in the stars.

While some observers feared a timid start, Disclosure Day ultimately far exceeded expectations. Steven Spielberg’s new science fiction film grossed almost $44 million during its first three days in the United States and Canada, plus $50 million internationally for a global launch estimated at $94 million.

This is Steven Spielberg’s best American start at the US box office in almost 20 years. In fact, we must go back to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) and its 100 million dollars over its first weekend to find a top opening in the director’s filmography.

Disclosure Day thus goes beyond the beginnings of Ready Player One (2018), which opened to 41.8 million dollars (590 million at the end of its career worldwide), but also those of West Side Story (2021), limited to 10.5 million, and its autobiopic The Fabelmans (2022), which had only collected $3.4 million during its stint in a large combination (in a context still marked by Covid). Proof that the public always responds when Spielberg reconnects with science fiction and great spectacular adventures.

In detail, according to PostTrak surveys, 55% of spectators cite Steven Spielberg himself as the main reason for coming to the theater. Universal has notably succeeded in mobilizing an audience loyal to the director: almost 40% of American spectators who went to see the film this weekend are over 45 years old.

It now remains to be seen whether Disclosure Day will be able to go the distance. With an estimated budget of $115 million (excluding promotion), the SF epic will have to confirm in the coming weeks. But after several works that are more prestigious than truly popular, Steven Spielberg has already regained a status that we haven’t seen in a long time: that of a director capable of creating a real event at the American box office.

Behind Disclosure Daythe other sensation of the weekend is called Obsession. The horror thriller produced by Blumhouse and directed by Curry Barker continues its incredible run with $19 million for its fifth weekend, down just 17%.

The film should reach $189 million in revenue in the United States by Sunday evening. A performance which already allows him to exceed the pace of Get Out and even that of Sixth sense by Shyamalan, to which some analysts are beginning to compare him. Like the classic with Bruce Willis, Obsession continues weekends with more than 20 million dollars and establishes itself as one of the surprise phenomena of the year. His exceptional stamina is now fueling speculation around a possible Oscar campaign.

Thanks to the combined performance of Disclosure Day And Obsessionthe Universal studio reigns supreme over the US box office and alone represents 51% of the weekend’s receipts across the Atlantic!

Further down the ranking, several large productions continue to operate with varying success.

In the second week, Scary Movie 6 suffered a heavy drop of 73% and added 14.5 million dollars, bringing its cumulative total to 84.5 million. A significant setback, but not unusual for an event comedy for which a large part of the public rushed to theaters upon its release.

Same observation for Masters of the Universewhich took in $9 million (-69%) in its second weekend. The adaptation produced by Amazon MGM has now reached 47 million in North America and will have to count on the international market to improve its results (knowing that the film will not be released in theaters in France, but directly in streaming on Prime Video).

Conversely, Backrooms continues to impress. A24’s horror phenomenon is down only 54% for its third weekend and still collects $11 million. Its American total reached 160 million, confirming its status as one of the biggest successes of the year for the independent studio. It even does almost as much as The Mandalorian and Grogu which, after four weeks of operation, only takes an additional $5 million (-50%). The first film Star Wars for several years now posts 165 million dollars in domestic revenue. A score very far from the historical standards of the galactic saga.

Finally, further in the ranking, The Furiousa Chinese-Hong Kong martial arts film directed by Kenji Tanigaki, had a promising launch with $3 million in 1,744 American theaters.