New York: Steven Spielberg’s latest film “Disclosure Day” has debuted at number one at the North American box office, earning $44 million in its opening weekend.The film, released by Universal Pictures, also generated $92.9 million globally, marking Spielberg’s strongest opening for an original movie, not accounting for inflation.Strong opening for original film“Disclosure Day”, described as a return to blockbuster-style filmmaking, is Spielberg’s first summer release in a decade. The film, which centres on the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life, stars Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor and Colman Domingo and carries a production budget of $115 million.According to Universal’s distribution chief Jim Orr, the film performed consistently across North America and attracted a broad audience, with 41 percent of viewers aged 45 and over.The film’s reviews have been broadly positive, although its audience reception was more moderate, earning a “B” CinemaScore.Competition from indie successDespite topping the charts, “Disclosure Day” faces strong competition from the independent horror film “Obsession”, directed by Curry Barker.The film added another $19 million in ticket sales over the weekend, bringing its North American total to $188.3 million and its global earnings to $286.5 million.Produced on a budget of less than $1 million, “Obsession” has become one of the most profitable recent releases, maintaining strong performance over multiple weekends.Other box office resultsLast weekend’s top film, “Scary Movie”, dropped to third place with $14.5 million, a 73 percent decline from its opening. However, the film has already reached $88.6 million domestically after two weeks.A24’s “Backrooms” continued its strong run, earning $11.3 million in its third weekend and reaching $262.3 million globally.“Masters of the Universe” recorded $8.7 million in its second weekend, bringing its domestic total to $46.7 million after a sharp drop following its release.Looking aheadIndustry observers noted that “Disclosure Day”, like many original films, will depend on strong performance in the coming weeks to sustain its box office success.Next weekend is expected to bring additional competition with the release of “Toy Story 5”, which is anticipated to perform strongly at the global box office.
