Weekend Box Office: Disclosure Day Scores Biggest Opening for An Original Steven Spielberg Film

One of the greatest to ever do it opened his new film this weekend. The history of cinema has generally lived up to the suggestion that when Steven Spielberg opens a film in June it is something to celebrate. Like everything these days, that will be debated and scrutinized, because that is the nature of social media and, for that matter, film criticism. We talk about that here as well, but the numbers over time for the filmmaker’s work are about as unmatched as it gets for pure theatrical attendance, and Disclosure Day has started with some hopeful figures in a variety of categories. King of the Crop: Disclosure Day Scores Biggest Opening for An Original Steven Spielberg Film In 1993, Steven Spielberg opened a film on June 11 to $47 million which, at the time, was the highest opening weekend in box office history. That film was Jurassic Park, and it went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time, a distinction Spielberg was able to claim twice before with Jaws in 1975 and then again with E.T. in 1982. Funny how time and inflation can now look at a $48.2 million opening and potentially consider that a disappointment. Naturally that is a breakdown of ticket prices vs. attendance, and what once was the best ever is now just enough to break the top 10 openings of a calendar year not even halfway through it. This is in no way to look down upon the numbers of Spielberg’s new film, Disclosure Day. (Negative words about the filmmaker are just not part of my vocabulary or way of thinking.) We are talking about one of the greatest and most successful directors of all time, with other big numbers including Raiders of the Lost Ark, its sequels, War of the Worlds, and Lincoln. Saving Private Ryan, a nearly three-hour R-rated WWII film released in the middle of summer, was the top grossing film of 1998. Yet when we look at the top of his opening weekends, the film with $100.1 million that sits there is Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. (Yes, I like that too.) (Photo by Niko Tavernise/©Universal Pictures) All things being equal, Disclosure Day is Spielberg’s fifth-best opening after Crystal Skull, The Lost World: Jurassic Park ($72.1 million), War of the Worlds ($64.8 million), and Jurassic Park ($47 million). Ready Player One is now sixth with $41.7 million. So another way to look at it is that Disclosure Day is Spielberg’s top opening weekend for an original project, besting 1998’s Saving Private Ryan ($30.05 million). That also makes it one of the top openings for a film with an original screenplay in 2026 and, frankly, since the pandemic. Take out sequels, franchises, spinoffs, prequels, book adaptations (comic or otherwise), name recognition, and all manner of IP. Take out biopics (Sorry Michael, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Straight Outta Compton), other true stories (sorry, heroes of Dunkirk) and “true” stories (The Conjuring). Excise all of that, and here is your list of the best live-action original idea productions since 2010: Avatar ($77.0 million)Us ($71.1 million)Inception ($62.7 million)F1: The Movie ($57.0 million)Valentine’s Day ($56.2 million)Gravity ($55.7 million)San Andreas ($54.5 million)Ted ($54.4 million)A Quiet Place ($50.2 million)Neighbors ($49.0 million)Sinners ($48.0 million)Interstellar ($47.5 million)Nope ($44.3 million)Disclosure Day ($44.0 million)Lucy ($43.8 million)Weapons ($43.5 million)Ride Along ($41.5 million)Once Upon a Time In Hollywood ($41.0 million)Grown Ups ($40.5 million)Safe House ($40.1 million) (Photo by Niko Tavernise/©Universal Pictures) What can we glean from that list? Well maybe that high-concept comedies are worth exploring again for theatrical release. Another is that new tales of aliens and outer space will always tap into the imagination of moviegoers. It also helps when directors who have earned their place in the lexicon like James Cameron, Christopher Nolan, and Quentin Tarantino, along with more recent additions such as Ryan Coogler and Jordan Peele, are creating original entertainment. There’s a hunger for it, and we’ll see if Curry Barker, Kane Parsons, and even Zach Cregger can fulfill the promise of their recent successes. Back to one of the GOATs though. Factoring inflation, Jaws would be a two-billion dollar domestic release, and E.T. wouldn’t be far behind. Jurassic Park and Raiders of the Lost Ark would also join the billion-dollar club. Close Encounters of the Third Kind’s first run would be over $825 million. His sequels, Temple of Doom, Last Crusade, and The Lost World would be over $750 million, while Saving Private Ryan and Crystal Skull would be over $700 million. Again, this is just domestic. Want to keep going? War of the Worlds: over half a billion. Hook, Catch Me if You Can, and The Color Purple over $400 million. Schindler’s List, Lincoln, and Minority Report over $350 million. Even Ready Player One, A.I., 1941, and The Terminal would be over $200 million. The only four inflated domestic grosses of Spielberg’s career that would not be over $100 million today would be Empire of the Sun, The Sugarland Express, West Side Story (released within the pandemic), and The Fabelmans. History suggests Disclosure Day will not join that list. (Photo by Niko Tavernise/©Universal Pictures) Steven Spielberg’s June releases have been historic, going back to Jaws, E.T., and Raiders of the Lost Ark, which, respectively, multiplied their opening weekends by 36.91, 30.34, and 25.55 over their first runs. As more theaters and higher prices were added, Jurassic Park’s final gross was 7.59 over its opening. (The July release of Saving Private Ryan was 7.08.) Minority Report multiplied 3.70, War of the Worlds posted a 3.61, and even The Terminal quadrupled its start with a 4.08. Only the lowest Cinemascored film of Spielberg’s career (a ridiculous C+ for A.I. Artificial Intelligence) and The BFG opened over the summer and failed to multiply their openings by more than three times for the filmmaker.  Spielberg’s films find their audiences. Disclosure Day is his 16th film with a score of 80% or higher on the Tomatometer. The B Cinemascore has tied for the second-lowest of his career with Crystal Skull, and even that multiplied his highest opening ever by 3.16. Numbers like that tied into a potential path similar to that of Minority Report could see Disclosure Day finishing in the $125-150 million range. Worldwide the reported $115 million production is at nearly $93 million after a single weekend. We could see it in the top five through the week of the July 4 holiday. That said, the disruptor that is Obsession (which Spielberg has gone on the record to say he loves) could spoil that run. Then again, nothing should spoil living in a time when an original Spielberg science fiction film is in theaters during the summer. Tales of the Top 10: Audiences Remained Obsessed with Obsession, Michael Becomes Highest-Grossing Musical Biopic of All Time There is just no explaining the phenomenon of Obsession through traditional box office trends. It has blown them up. So let’s just enjoy the ride. It has taken Curry Barker’s film five weekends to finally drop more than 10%. And it was still just a 25% drop down to $19 million. Last week it was among the 25 best fourth weekends of all time. We’re talking 23 films that grossed over $300 million. This week it finds itself with the 18th-best fifth weekend ever, joining both Project Hail Mary ($20.51 million) and Michael ($20.62 million) this year alone on that list’s top 20. Hail Mary was 10th before it was replaced by Michael. Obsession did best Deadpool & Wolverine’s $18.3 million fifth weekend to become the top R-rated film in that category. The film is now at $188.3 million domestic and $286 million worldwide. There is no predictive estimate at this point for how high Obsession can climb, but the floor appears to be no worse than $240 million domestic. Last week’s No. 1, Scary Movie, fell to third place this weekend with $14.5 million. That is a 73.4% drop, which is now the highest drop of the year for a film in over 3,000 theaters. Higher than Crime 101 (-61.4%), Mortal Kombat II (-65.2%), The Mandalorian and Grogu (-70.1%), The Bride! (-70.4%), 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (-72.6%) and, appropriately enough, Scream 7 (-73.3%). That drop will delay its inevitable breaking of $100 million by a few days. But with over $84 million domestic and $173 million in the bank worldwide, they are already counting profits on this one. They would certainly rather not see this drop like The Flash did back in 2023 when it fell 72.5% to $15.1 million in weekend two and then $5.2 million in weekend three. We’ll put Scary Movie’s estimate between $105-115 million right now. The Kane Parsons sensation Backrooms continues to draw in crowds. It may be down to $11.2 million in weekend three after its $81 million opening two weeks ago, but ask Grogu about his $9.9 million third weekend after a start that was nearly $270,000 higher. After 17 days, that brings the A24 release to $160 million. Can it make it to $200 million? Superman Returns back in 2006 had a $12.2 million third weekend and a 17-day haul of $155.3 million, and it got to $200,074,609. That is a track Backrooms would like to match going forward to join that list. Whether it does or not, it will be one of the most successful films of 2026. Worldwide the $10 million production is at $262 million. Amazon/MGM’s Masters of the Universe is not going to beat the talk of it becoming one of the biggest flops of 2026. Either the demand just wasn’t there, the fanbase not expanded, or all of them were busy seeing Obsession and Backrooms. Whatever the reason, a 71% second weekend drop to $8.7 million brings its 10-day total to $46.7 million. While the studio may be looking at these numbers like a horror show, audiences seem to be treating it like a horror film. Last year’s 28 Years Later took a 67% dip to $9.7 million in its second weekend, and He-Man is already behind that film’s pace. Right now Masters is set to land between just $60-70 million domestic. Globally the film is only at $86 million and is going to be hard to beat as perhaps the single biggest flop of the year. The Mandalorian and Grogu continues to fall down the charts. A 50% drop to $5 million in weekend four brings its 24-day total to $165.4 million. That is on its way to a soft landing in the $170-180 million domestic range. Among Memorial Day releases, it is going to rank further down the list behind The Day After Tomorrow and possibly even Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. It took nearly three weeks for the film to hit $300 million worldwide. It is at $315 million to date. Masters of the Universe has certainly taken some of the heat off Mando’s budget-to-gross ratio. It is unlikely to even be in the top 10 of theatrical duds this year by the time it leaves the box office top 10, but it still has to be a major disappointment. Antoine Fuqua’s Michael has officially passed Bohemian Rhapsody to become the highest-grossing music biopic in history. Last week it became Lionsgate’s top grossing film of all time across the globe, and that number increases to $932 million this weekend. That includes $4.1 million on the domestic side to drive its total to $362.7 million. It is the second-highest grossing film of the year behind The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. It would have been third in 2025 behind only A Minecraft Movie and Lilo & Stitch. Speaking of music, BTS World Tour ‘Arirang’ in Busan: Live Viewing played in 1,005 theaters Saturday night, and the presentation from Trafalgar Releasing grossed $3.8 million. There was a period from 1996-2007 when martial arts films found a sizable audience. A lot had to do with the rise of Jackie Chan and certainly the success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Two of the biggest subtitled openings of all time include 2004’s Hero ($18 million) and Jet Li’s Fearless ($10.59 billion). This weekend, Lionsgate’s release of Kenji Tanigaki’s The Furious opened to $2.7 million in 1,251 theaters. (Iron Monkey opened to $6.01 million from 1,225 theaters in 2001.) Critics have been raving since its festival premiere at Toronto last September, and through this weekend it maintains a 97% on the Tomatometer, tying it with Is God Is as the best-scored wide release of 2026. Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot and Stop! That! Train! can now sit side by side in alphabetized list of wide theatrical releases. The latter film opened this weekend by Bleecker Street and it grossed $2 million in 1,161 theaters, which is pretty decent for them. In fact it is the ninth-best opening in their history, where only three of their films (Logan Lucky, Eye in the Sky, and Megan Leavey) broke $10 million domestic. Earlier this year they opened the concert film Stray Kids: The dominATE Experience! to their second-best opening ever with $5.69 million (behind Logan Lucky’s $7.6 million start). Maybe they need to add exclamation marks like Elaine Benes to every title. Or maybe they need to be less selective on who to show the film to, as many critics were not given the opportunity. It stands at 83%, only the second positive theatrical Tomatometer score for director Adam Shankman after 2007’s Hairspray (91%). His third-highest is Rock of Ages at 43%. (His straight-to-Disney+ Hocus Pocus 2 has a 65%.) Beyond the Top 10: A Couple of Summer Hits Begin to Wind Down The highest-grossing film of the summer (for now), The Devil Wears Prada 2, is still in the million-dollar club after seven weeks, earning $1.3 million. It’s domestic total is at $217.8 million. Globally the film is over $675 million, more than double than what the new Star Wars (TV) movie has done. The dads kept Pressure in the club as well, with $1.1 million bringing the WWII film’s total over $14 million. The film about the stay-at-home dad, The Breadwinner with Nate Bargatze, made $1.5 million and is up to just $17 million. The million dollar club keeps going as Amazon/MGM’s The Sheep Detectives made $1.2 million to bring its domestic total over $62.2 million. On The Vine: The Gang’s All Back for Toy Story 5 Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and the gang return for Pixar’s Toy Story 5. The last two films hit a billion dollars. Will this follow? Hugh Jackman finds a new take on an old legend in A24’s The Death of Robin Hood from the director of Pig and A Quiet Place: Day One. Neon has the acclaimed Sundance horror film Leviticus, which has a 94% with critics. Then in limited release, look for Hayley Kiyoko’s Girls Like Girls, based on her book titled after her song, as well as John Early’s festival hit, Maddie’s Secret, which has also found favor with critics, who gave it a 91% on the Tomatometer. Full List of Box Office Results: June 12-14 Disclosure Day – $44.0 million ($44.0 million total) Obsession – $19.0 million ($188.3 million total) Scary Movie – $14.5 million ($84.5 million total) Backrooms – $11.2 million ($160.0 million total) Masters of the Universe – $8.7 million ($46.7 million total) Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu – $4.7 million ($165.0 million total) Michael – $4.1 million ($362.7 million total) BTS World Tour ‘Arirang in Busan: Live Viewing – $3.8 million ($3.8 million total) The Furious – $2.7 million ($2.7 million total) Stop! That! Train! – $2.0 million ($2.0 million total) Erik Childress can be heard each week evaluating box office on Business First AM with Angela Miles and his Movie Madness Podcast. [box office figures via Box Office Mojo] Thumbnail image by Quantrell Colbert/©Paramount Pictures Find Something Fresh! Discover What to Watch, Read Reviews, Leave Ratings and Build Watchlists. Download the Rotten Tomatoes App.

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