Mixed Reviews and ‘Toy Story 5’ Impact on Spielberg’s ‘Disclosure Day’ Box Office

Steven Spielberg’s return to original science fiction filmmaking hit theaters this summer with significant excitement, and ‘Disclosure Day’ generated the kind of buzz that only a true blockbuster director can inspire.

Starring Emily Blunt as a small market meteorologist caught in a vast government conspiracy, the film features a supporting cast that embodies Spielberg’s classic blend of wonder and tension. For longtime fans, this marked the director’s first major summer release since ‘Ready Player One’ nearly a decade ago.

Universal Pictures heavily promoted the film’s pedigree, banking on Spielberg’s name to carry an original story without a built-in franchise. Initially, this strategy seemed successful, as ‘Disclosure Day’ opened domestically well above early industry forecasts and enjoyed a strong worldwide debut. However, audiences gave the film a lukewarm B grade on CinemaScore, indicating that reactions within theaters were more mixed than the early numbers suggested.

Now that the film’s second weekend results are in, they reveal a much tougher reality. According to box office tracker Luiz Fernando, ‘Disclosure Day’ earned approximately $17 million over its second three-day weekend, marking a steep 61.8 percent drop from its opening weekend, despite the cushion of the Father’s Day holiday. This decline pushed the film’s domestic total to $78.3 million, which still falls short of the sustained success Universal had hoped for.

The drop becomes even more significant when compared to other major genre films. ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ experienced a 56.4 percent decline in its second weekend, earning $25.5 million, while ‘Interstellar’ dropped only 40.4 percent for a $28.3 million second weekend. ‘Ready Player One’ saw a 41 percent decrease to $24.6 million, and ‘Gladiator II’ performed best with a 43.6 percent dip to $31 million, although that result occurred during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Much of the issue stems from the release of ‘Toy Story 5,’ which opened in the same timeframe and quickly took over a significant portion of the premium large format screens that ‘Disclosure Day’ had depended on for its initial grosses. With Pixar’s sequel dominating theaters nationwide, the alien conspiracy thriller struggled to maintain its early momentum.

Trade analysts had already warned of this risk prior to the second weekend’s figures. According to analysis from The Ankler, the film needs to triple its opening weekend gross to justify its budget based solely on theatrical performance, a target that became more challenging to achieve after the B CinemaScore indicated limited repeat viewership. With a reported production budget of $115 million and an additional $80 million spent on marketing, the financial stakes are high.

Despite the challenging second weekend, ‘Disclosure Day’ has still surpassed the $100 million mark domestically, with most projections estimating it will finish between $105 million and $120 million by the end of its North American run.

Some industry sources have suggested an even broader range, indicating the film could ultimately settle between $115 million and $150 million if international audiences continue to show strong interest. Worldwide, the film has already grossed over $150 million, but it still has a long way to go to reach the approximately $300 million mark Universal needs to break even.

For Spielberg, these numbers serve as a reminder of how unforgiving the modern box office can be, even for one of the most acclaimed directors in history. His previous sci-fi films like ‘Minority Report’ and ‘War of the Worlds’ enjoyed steadier box office trajectories, and whether ‘Disclosure Day’ can find a similar path now depends largely on whether audiences continue to engage with it throughout the summer.

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