WATCH: Steven Spielberg’s ‘Disclosure Day’ dominates box office

LOS ANGELES – “Disclosure Day,” director Steven Spielberg’s return to the subject of extraterrestrial life, opened with $44 million this weekend to lead all films in North America, according to industry estimates released Sunday.

It was a good but not spectacular opening for the big-budget film, which stars Emily Blunt

Spielberg scored two of his biggest critical and commercial hits with similar subject matter early in his career — 1977’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and 1982’s “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.”

Director Steven Spielberg attends the “Disclosure Day” premiere at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater on Monday, June 8, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

‘Obsession’

“Obsession,” 26-year-old YouTube comedian Curry Barker’s phenomenally successful low-budget horror film, claimed second place with $19 million in its fifth weekend in theaters and has now generated over $188 million, Rentrak reported.

“Scary Movie” was third with $14.5 million Friday through Sunday, one week after opening in first place with about $55 million.

“Backrooms” was fourth with $11.2 million in its third week, followed by “Masters of the Universe,” which grossed $8.6 million in its second weekend.

Sixth place went to “Star Wars: Mandalorian & Grogu,” which took in $4.7 million in its fourth weekend and has grossed $165 million domestically so far — an impressive total for most films but significantly below expectations for an installment of the “Star Wars” franchise.

Rounding out the top 10 releases were “Michael” ($4.1 million), “The Furious” ($2.7 million), “STOP! THAT! TRAIN!” ($2 million) and “The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act” ($1.7 million).

This weekend’s overall three-day box office haul was estimated at $120 million. The year-to-date total is $4.166 billion — up 13% from the figure at this time last year, according to Rentrak.

‘Disclosure Day’

Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day,” billed as his first popcorn movie in years, launched with $44 million in domestic theaters.

“Disclosure Day” opened largely as expected, collecting $92.9 million worldwide over its first weekend. That was good enough to give the 79-year-old Spielberg, who conceived the film’s story, his best opening weekend for an original movie, not accounting to inflation.

Of course, Spielberg is the father of the modern blockbuster. But “Disclosure Day,” released by Universal Pictures, is his first summer movie in 10 years. And it opened in a much different movie world than once greeted “Jaws” or “Jurassic Park.”

Its closest competition was the indie horror hit “Obsession,” directed by a YouTuber-turned-filmmaker, Curry Barker, more than 50 years Spielberg’s junior.

“It played very, very evenly across all of the U.S. and Canada,” said Jim Orr, distribution chief for Universal. “It did not come across as a coastal big-market movie. It resonated with everybody.”

While a much-watched NBA finals game might have been expected to depress ticket sales, at least in New York, Orr said there was no noticeable dip in the city’s box office numbers Saturday night.

After Gen Z propelled moviegoing for the last several weeks, a slightly older audience drove interest in “Disclosure Day.” Some 41% of moviegoers were aged 45 and up.

“What’s encouraging is that we had this big an opening with that audience demographic and with the fact that it’s an original film,” said Orr. “So if we’re opening this well, and we think we’re going to have great word-of-mouth, and we have an older audience that doesn’t necessarily rush out on opening weekend, all of that points to a great run through the summer.”

“Disclosure Day” returns Spielberg to the subject of alien life. Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor and Colman Domingo star in a chase to reveal government evidence of UFO encounters. It cost $115 million to make.

While a good start, “Disclosure Day” — like most original movies — will depend on strong legs to be successful. Reviews (80% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) have been strong, though audience response wasn’t overwhelming. The movie landed a “B” CinemaScore. (With CNS and AP reports)

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