Disclosure Day Sets an Unwanted Record for Steven Spielberg Despite Positive Box Office

Steven Spielberg‘s newest sci-fi thriller, Disclosure Day, has resulted in a lukewarm audience response, having received a B CinemaScore grade, which is the director’s lowest CinemaScore in approximately twenty years. That grade put it on par with the reception to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which hit theaters 18 years ago. The B CinemaScore grade is the director’s joint second-worst; only A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) fared worse, with a C+.

That is in stark contrast to Steven Spielberg’s filmography, having some of the highest CinemaScores in history, with almost all titles given A+ grades, including E.T., Schindler’s List, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and A grades for much of his later work, such as Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, and The Fabelmans. FandomWire rates Disclosure Day a 7 out of 10 and calls it “Steven Spielberg’s Return to Aliens Is Flawed but Fascinating.”

Steven Spielberg Receives His Lowest Score With Disclosure Day

Credits: Universal Pictures

A B CinemaScore still is a noticeably softer-than-usual audience score for a major summer blockbuster; for the unversed, CinemaScore is determined by surveys of opening-day moviegoers. It is really a measure of the fresh response among those who actually wanted to see the film in the first place. For Spielberg, that grade is surprising given his track record with the CinemaScore scale: Almost all his movies have been in the A range, E.T., Schindler’s List, and Raiders of the Lost Ark were all A+; Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan and The Fabelmans are all A.

Disclosure Day is a lot below all these movies. Of Spielberg’s films, only one other film has a worse score on CinemaScore: A.I. Artificial Intelligence, with a grade of C+ in 2001. Disclosure Day now ties Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) for the second-lowest grade of his career. Both films were released during the summer with high audience expectations and neither could meet the expectations set by his most commercially popular film. The B isn’t necessarily a reflection on the success of these films, but it does mean that word-of-mouth from mass audiences may not be as charitable. Many critics praised Emily Blunt’s performance and Spielberg’s characteristically ambiguous ending.

Disclosure Day Continues Positive Run At The Box Office

Credits: Universal Pictures

Disclosure Day seems to be doing pretty well in the most crucial part of its opening frame. The movie opened on Friday to a total of $19 million domestically, including $6.5 million gained through a preview screening on Thursday night, as per reports by Variety.

The film is showing on 3,824 domestic screens, and the current weekend’s expected gross is $44 million. Internationally, the film is playing in 73 markets, and preliminary overseas figures bring the global opening weekend estimate to about $93.9 million, a strong opening for an original blockbuster with no pre-existing franchise to capitalize on, The Hollywood Reporter reports.

The production budget itself was 115 million, with the film also estimated to have spent a further $80 million in marketing, which industry insiders believe the film will need to make $300 million globally to break even. The question now is whether the film will have enough legs, given how things are to do so.

What did you think of the movie? Tell us in the comments below!

Disclosure Day is playing in theaters now.