Box Office: ‘Disclosure Day’ Launches to $93 Million Globally, ‘Michael’ Nears $950 Million Milestone

Universal and Amblin’s Steven Spielberg movie Disclosure Day is filing in at $44M, which as you can see in the chart way down below, would rank as his fifth highest opening of all-time at the domestic B.O. In addition, it’s his as well as Amblin’s highest opening for an original title not based on any previous IP. Interesting to point out that the arrival of Spielberg in conjunction with the holdover of Focus Features’ top grossing movie of all-time, Obsession, ($19M) was enough to sink last weekend’s wide entries Scary Movie and Masters of the Universe, both down by more than 70% in weekend 2. (though the former did do business during the week).

via: Variety

Overseas audiences will be key in the theatrical longevity of “Disclosure Day,” which Universal spent $115 million to produce and $80 million to market. Since about half of revenues go to theater owners, the movie needs to generate roughly $300 million globally to justify its price tag. Along with $44 million in North America, “Disclosure Day” has generated $92.9 million after three days of release. Reviews are positive, but audience reactions have been mixed, so a bigger question is how the film will endure on the big screen.

Spielberg is a household name through blockbusters like “Jaws,” “Jurassic Park” and Raiders of the Lost Arc,” and his movies are known to enjoy staying power at the box office. His prior summer blockbuster, 2018’s “Ready Player One,” for example, opened to $41 million and ended up with $137 million domestically and $607 million worldwide.

“Disclosure Day” stars Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor as a meteorologist and a cybersecurity expert who join forces to expose the government’s cover-up of extraterrestrial life. The movie had a notable turnout on premium large format screens, including Imax, which accounted for $6.5 million or 15% of overseas grosses. Top territories for “Disclosure Day” were the United Kingdom and Ireland with $7.6 million, Mexico with $3.9 million, China with $2.9 million and France with $2.9 million.

“Sci-fi thrillers do well abroad, [so] foreign business should be good,” predicts David A. Gross, who publishes the box office newsletter FranchiseRe. “If there’s softness overseas,” he notes, “it’s because China has shrunk so dramatically as a market for U.S. films.”

Elsewhere, “Michael” is nearing another box office milestone after adding $17 million internationally and $21 million globally in its eighth weekend of release. The musical biopic about Michael Jackson has generated $932.2 million worldwide to date and will soon eclipse the $950 million mark. Should ticket sales keep climbing and surpass $975 million, “Michael” will overtake “Oppenheimer” as the highest-grossing biopic of all time. The film has already dethroned “Bohemian Rhapsody” ($911 million) as the biggest musical biopic in history.

Other big-budget tentpoles have less to celebrate. Amazon MGM’s toy adaptation “Masters of the Universe” added a paltry $8.4 million from 86 markets in its second weekend of release, bringing its overseas tally to just $39.4 million. The otherworldly adventure, based on the Mattel toy that was popular in the ’80s, is approaching bomb status with $45.7 million domestically and $84 million globally against a mighty budget of nearly $200 million.

Meanwhile, Disney’s “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” continues to struggle, earning $7.1 million from 52 markets in its fourth frame. The family-friendly film, a spinoff of the popular Disney+ series “The Mandalorian,” has collected $150 million overseas and $315 million globally against a $165 million price tag. It’s shaping up to be the lowest-earning “Star Wars” movie of all time, an ignominious distinction that currently belongs to 2018’s “Solo: A Star Wars Story” with $179 million internationally and $392 million worldwide, not adjusted for inflation.

Lionsgate’s martial arts action film The Furious and RuPaul-starring Stop! That! Train! debuted to nos. 8 and 9 at the domestic box office with the The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act from Fathom rounding out the top ten in week 2.

The Furious from Lionsgate kicked up $2.75 million on 1,251 screens — at 97% Certified Fresh with Rotten Tomatoes critics, 95% with audiences. The studio acquired most worldwide rights to The Furious — excluding China, where it opened at no. 1 this weekend — following a raucous premiere at TIFF Midnight Madness. Lionsgate said the title, directed by Kenji Tanigaki, will be profitable and called the release an example of its “commitment to serving audiences and exhibitors with a diverse slate of original theatrical films, and forging relationships with rising filmmakers who deliver a fresh and distinctive point of view.”

Stop! That! Train! from Bleecker Street debuted at $$2 million on 1,161 screens. Bleecker and producer World of Wonder said they’re “very pleased with the enthusiastic response from both fans of RuPaul’s Drag Race and newcomers alike. On the heels of great reviews and a New York Times Critic’s Pick, we have had multiple sellouts in major markets and look forward to continuing to take audiences nationwide on this hilarious ride.”

Sunday (6/15) morning’s chart:

1. Disclosure Day (Uni) 3,824 theaters, Fri $19.2M, Sat $13.8M Sun $10.95M 3-day $44M/Wk 1 

   
   

2. Obsession (Foc) 3,068 (+168) theaters, Fri $6.2M (-17% from previous Friday), Sat $6.9M Sun $5.86M 3-day $19M (-25%), Total $188.3M/Wk 5In a rare feat, it’s the fourth consecutive weekend that the film has out grossed its opening weekend ($17.2 million).

   
   

3. Scary Movie (Par) 3,504 theaters, Fri $4.8M (-80%) Sat $5.5M Sun $4.1M, 3-day $14.5M (-73%), Total $84.5M/Wk 2

   
   

4. Backrooms (A24) 3,404 (-161) theaters, Fri $3.6M (-54%) Sat $4.3M Sun $3.3M 3-day $11.26M (-57%), Total $160M /Wk 3Backrooms is $5M away from bypassing Star Wars: Mandalorian and Grogu at the domestic box office. Once again, it’s the attack of the under $10M original movies at the box office. Worldwide is now $262.3M on the Kane Parsons directed movie.

5. Masters of the Universe (AMZ) 3,677 theaters, Fri $2.4M (-79%) Sat $3.5M Sun $2.6M 3-day $8.66M (-71%), Total $46.7M/ Wk 2 

6. Mandalorian and Grogu (Dis) 2,680 (-675) theaters, Fri $1.3M (-49%) Sat $1.9M Sun $1.5M 3-day $4.7M (-53%), Total $165M/Wk 4

   
   

7. Michael (LG) 2,256 (-380) theaters, Fri $1.3M Sat $1.5M Sun $1.2M, 3-day $4.1M (-46%), Total $362.7M/Wk 8

   
   

8. BTS World Tour “Airbag“ (Traf)1,005 theaters, Sat $3.8M/Wk 1

9. The Furious (LGP) 1,251 theaters, Fri $1.39M, Sat $760K Sun $600K 3-day $2.75M/Wk 1 The Kenji Tanigaki directed martial arts movie opened No. 1 in China to $13.5M. Lionsgate acquired the pic out of TIFF Midnight Madness last year.

   
   

10. Stop! That! Train! (BST) 1,161 theaters, Fri $920K, Sat $579K Sun $521K 3-day $2M/Wk 1