‘Disclosure Day’ Is Already Outpacing Its Own Projections, and Steven Spielberg Might Have a Major Original Hit on His Hands

Steven Spielberg’s ‘Disclosure Day’ arrived in theaters on June 12, and early box office returns are already threatening to leave industry projections in the dust. According to tracking data shared by box office analyst Luiz Fernando on X, the film grossed a strong $6.5 million in Thursday night previews, well ahead of the $30 to $35 million opening weekend range that had been circulating just days before.

The Universal film stars Josh O’Connor as a cybersecurity expert who discovers proof that aliens exist and Emily Blunt as a meteorologist with a mysterious connection to the extraterrestrials. The screenplay was written by David Koepp, the film was shot by longtime Spielberg collaborator Janusz Kaminski, and the score comes from John Williams, making it a true reunion of the director’s most trusted creative partners.

The film is described as a very different kind of Spielbergian science fiction movie, with many calling it a throwback to paranoid 1970s thrillers like ‘The Parallax View’, relying on atmosphere and performance rather than spectacle. The story follows two people whose shared childhood experience becomes the key to unlocking a decades-long cover-up involving alien life hidden by a powerful secret organization exploiting extraterrestrial technology for itself.

The film carries a reported $115 million production budget alongside roughly $80 million in marketing, putting its global breakeven point around $300 million. Those numbers made it one of the summer’s riskier bets for a non-franchise original, but the preview performance is now forcing analysts to revise their forecasts upward considerably. Luiz Fernando projects a $50 to $60 million domestic opening weekend if the film holds its legs the way comparable titles have.

The film currently holds an 82% score on Rotten Tomatoes and features a supporting cast that includes Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, and Eve Hewson alongside the two leads. Spielberg worked unusually aggressively to promote the project, appearing at CinemaCon and SXSW, dropping into podcast appearances, and even attending an event at TikTok headquarters with creator Reece Feldman to reach younger audiences.

The film’s first full day globally came in around $12 million, with roughly $6 million from domestic previews and another $6 million from early overseas markets. In the UK and Ireland alone, ‘Disclosure Day’ grabbed a 36% market share at number one from its opening Wednesday wave.

Emily Blunt, for her part, has made no secret of how much the project means to her personally. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, she described Spielberg as someone who “has become like my movie dad,” adding that working with him had been “the privilege of privileges” and that she had cried in her car after leaving the room where he offered her the role.

With critics overwhelmingly positive and audience word of mouth expected to be vital to its long-term performance, ‘Disclosure Day’ is shaping up to be exactly the kind of adult-skewing original film that Hollywood has been quietly hoping would find its audience again. If this weekend delivers at the level the previews are suggesting, Spielberg may have just reminded the industry what a master filmmaker can still do without a sequel or a superhero in sight.

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