Steven Spielberg helped create the summer blockbuster with the June 1975 smash hit “Jaws,” showing Hollywood how much money could be made during the school holidays. More than 50 years after Jaws made audiences afraid to go into the water, Spielberg, who was 28 when the film was first released and is now 79, is proving with Disclosure Day that he still knows how to draw an audience.
This alien invasion adventure opens on June 12th, with a $115 million budget and one of the summer’s biggest gambles: a twisty conspiracy thriller not wrapped in a familiar IP. Because it’s an original story, Universal’s marketing has relied heavily on Spielberg’s name to differentiate “Disclosure Day” from the franchise films and low-budget horror films that dominate multiplexes. However, the outlook is shaky, with the film’s opening price expected to be $35 million, below the $50 million that some studios have argued should be released for $50 million to justify the cost of releasing a film of this size. Rival executives believe the film needs to gross $300 million worldwide to turn a profit, since theaters keep about half of its ticket sales and marketing costs for “Disclosure Day” are about $80 million.
“The Spielberg name carries weight, but it’s not the same[as it used to be],” said one studio executive. “Movie fans who grew up with Spielberg are older and have a harder time going to movie theaters.”
Spielberg was once synonymous with escapist entertainment, directing such spectacles as “E.T.” and “Jurassic Park” and creating the “Indiana Jones” series. These films revolutionized the way Hollywood did business, demonstrating that movies could sell not just tickets, but T-shirts and toys as well. But Spielberg’s artistic ambitions changed in the 1990s, focusing on historical blockbusters like “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan.” The move toward high-end drama has accelerated over the past decade, with Spielberg directing award-winning films such as The Fabelmans and the West Side Story remake to critical acclaim. Commercial efforts like The BFG and Ready Player One were met with mixed reviews, and did little to introduce Spielberg to the younger generation of moviegoers that Disclosure Day needed to attract.
That’s a problem, because Spielberg’s movies don’t come cheap. His salary is typically $10 million as a director’s fee (he also earns a producer’s fee), and actors who appear in his films often receive their full pay. Disclosure Day stars Emily Blunt and has an asking price of $15 million, while Josh O’Connor is asking $6 million for an earlier picture.
Spielberg hasn’t always wanted to be the public face of his work, but he’s been active in promoting Disclosure Day by stopping by CinemaCon and SXSW, appearing on podcasts like Michelle Obama’s IMO and The Rewatchables, and holding an event at TikTok’s headquarters with creator Reese Feldman to drum up interest among Gen Z moviegoers.
Despite his efforts, awareness of the film has been low, lagging behind DC’s “Supergirl” and “Jackass: The Best and Last,” both of which will be released in the coming weeks. But sources close to Universal say much of the marketing campaign for “Disclosure Day” has been delayed, leading up to its release week. The publicity campaign was always intended to end late, they say, to keep the mystery of the story hidden. Universal is betting that “Disclosure Day” will receive positive reviews and drive business. “Disclosure Day” could continue to sell well into June and July because Spielberg’s audience tends to be older and doesn’t feel the urgency to see a movie on its opening weekend.
“What about the legs? What about word of mouth?” asks Sean Robbins, director of film analysis at Fandango. “This seems like it could get people talking in a really good way.”
At CinemaCon, Spielberg warned that Hollywood would “run out of gas” if it only made reboots and sequels. “We need to tell more original stories,” he said.
Last month, 26-year-old YouTube-trained filmmaker Callie Barker scored an unprecedented box office success with one of these original stories. Barker’s low-budget thriller Obsession captivated an emerging generation of moviegoers by offering something never seen before on screen. Much like Spielberg had done with Jaws in 1975, Barker seemed to be charting a new direction for the movie business. Will Disclosure Day be part of that future, or a reminder of the past?
