UPDATE: The latest figures are in for the weekend, and Disclosure Day did better than expected with an impressive $44 million opening. With $48 million from overseas, the movie has a $92 million global bow, which is a strong start for the original sci-fi story.
Masters of the Universe, however, has crashed and burned with $8.6 million in the U.S., taking its worldwide total to a mere $86.1 million. With numbers like that, forget about a sequel.
As for The Mandalorian and Grogu, while it's reached $315 million globally, it's now set to go down as the lowest-grossing Star Wars movie ever. This has not been a strong start to the summer for historic franchises.
Disclosure Day is now playing in theaters, and the movie is exceeding initial industry expectations of a $35 million opening at the North American box office. After an estimated $18.5 million on Friday, Steven Spielberg's latest sci-fi epic is now eying a $42.5 million three-day start.
This would be the best-ever opening for a Spielberg and Amblin original movie, and with a running global cume of roughly $30 million as we write this, Disclosure Day is on course to beam up a solid $65 million for its global bow.
The movie reportedly needs to make $300 million to break even, which is a big ask, but certainly not impossible. Toy Story 5 and Supergirl are on the way, but for moviegoers not looking for animation or superheroes, this should be an enticing alternative.
As we first reported on SFFGazette.com, with moviegoers now heading to their local multiplexes, Disclosure Day's CinemaScore has been revealed. To remind you, the market research firm surveys audience reactions to newly released movies.
After attending opening night screenings, moviegoers rate films on an A+ to F scale, providing insights into audience satisfaction. Widely used in the film industry, CinemaScore helps gauge the initial reception of movies and influences box office predictions based on audience feedback.
Disclosure Day has received a "B" rating, which is below Spielberg's previous sci-fi movies, Minority Report and War of the Worlds, both of which received a "B+", and above A.I.'s C+. In terms of other sci-fi movies, it sits side by side with the likes of District 9, Tenet, and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie is "Certified Fresh" with critics at 81% and sits at 75% on the fan-generated Popcornmeter.
Elsewhere this weekend, Obsession is at #2 with $18 million, while Scary Movie moves to third place with $15.2 million. Fourth is Backrooms with $12.4 million, and down in fifth in its second weekend is Masters of the Universe, which is eyeing a mere $9.4 million for a $47.4 million total since opening.
Like The Mandalorian and Grogu, the blockbuster is a flop that likely won't even come close to breaking even, never mind reaching profitability. When two historic franchises like this underperform, it sends a message to Hollywood executives (not always the right one), especially when you have two horror movies made by YouTubers breaking records.
If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? In Disclosure Day, the truth belongs to seven billion people, the long-awaited new UFO movie from the legendary Steven Spielberg.
The cast of Disclosure Day includes SAG winner and Oscar nominee Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer), Emmy and Golden Globe winner Josh O’Connor (Challengers), Oscar winner Colin Firth (Kingsman), Eve Hewson (Bad Sisters) and two-time Oscar nominee Colman Domingo (Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man).
Disclosure Day is set to be released in theaters on June 12.