The original summer movie filmmaker meets the new generation of directors this weekend, with Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day entering the fray amid a summer dominated by Gen Z hits Obsession and Backrooms.
Spielberg’s $115 million budgeted UFO feature is looking to bring in $44 million this weekend after grossing $19 million on Friday, including Thursday previews, a solid start for the filmmaker’s first popcorn movie in eight years, since he released Ready Player One to $53.7 million on its way to $583.5 million globally. Worldwide, Disclosure Day is expected to end the weekend with a global haul of $93.9 million.
If estimates hold, this would be Spielberg’s top grossing opening weekend domestically for an original feature. He conceived of the story, and then handed it off to his Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp to pen the sci-fi thriller about the race to reveal that extraterrestrial life is among us. Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor are among the cast, with critics granting it strong reviews and audiences giving it a B CinemaScore.
Curry Barker’s word-of-mouth hit, Obsession, continues to breathe rarified air at the box office and is expected to bring in $21 million in its fifth weekend, declining just 17 percent. It will bow at No. 2 and is the rare movie to have four consecutive weekends bigger than its opening ($17.2 million). The feature has broken numerous records for Focus, including becoming its biggest movie domestically and globally for the studio. It looks to end the weekend with a domestic haul of $190.3 million.
Paramount holdover Scary Movie is expected to hit No. 3 in its second weekend, with around $15 million and a decline of around 70 percent, while Kane Parsons Gen Z hit Backrooms is expected to bring in around $12 million in its third weekend, to bring its domestic haul to a hefty $160 million or so.
Amazon MGM Studios’ Masters of the Universe is a non-factor in its second weekend, where the pricey adaptation of the Gen X favorite is expected to gross $9.2 million, declining 69 percent.