Steven Spielberg's sci-fi thriller Disclosure Day opened to a strong $44 million in the US domestic box office this weekend. The performance exceeded pre-release projections of around $35 million. This marks the best opening for a Spielberg original film in some time.
The film earned $19 million on its opening Friday from 3,824 North American theaters. Roughly half the weekend gross came from IMAX and premium large format screenings. These formats played a crucial role in driving ticket sales for the event-like release.
Produced by Universal and Amblin with a $115 million budget, the sci-fi thriller is on track for a global opening of approximately $94 million. The international component will add significantly to the film's overall earnings.
Deadline noted in its box office report that Disclosure Day is doing much better than anticipated with an expected $44M domestic opening. Half of that was fueled by Imax and PLFs. The publication provided detailed breakdown of the Friday performance.
Deadline's box office report stated: "Disclosure Day is doing much better than anticipated with an expected $44M domestic opening, half of that fueled by Imax and PLFs."
Variety covered the opening day gross of $19 million and the weekend projection in their analysis. TheWrap noted the $19 million opening day and made comparisons to prior Spielberg films from recent years.
The strong debut comes during a key period in the summer movie season. Audiences showed up for the combination of Spielberg's direction and the thriller genre elements. Premium large format screenings accounted for a substantial portion of the business.
The results position the film well for continued playtime in theaters across the country. Observers expect it to maintain momentum through the next weekend.
