“Disclosure Day,” a sci-fi adventure from Steven Spielberg, opened to No. 1 at the domestic box office with $44 million from 3,824 theaters.

Those ticket sales were above estimates of $35 million, though below the $50 million that rival studios argue a film of this scale should earn in its debut to justify its price tag. “Disclosure Day,” one of the summer’s biggest gambles, cost $115 million to produce and $80 million to market. Since theaters keep about half of revenues, “Disclosure Day” needs to earn about $300 million globally to be profitable.

Critics reviews are solid (81% on Rotten Tomatoes) while audience scores are mixed (a “B” grade on CinemaScore exit polls), so it’s unclear how ticket sales for “Disclosure Day” will hold in the coming weeks. However, Spielberg’s movies tend to have significant box office staying power. His prior summer blockbuster, 2018’s “Ready Player One,” opened to $41 million and ended up with $137 million domestically and $607 million worldwide. Internationally, “Disclosure Day” has generated $48.9 million from 73 markets for a global start of $92.9 million.

“There’s no straight line between reviews, word-of-mouth and box office, so no one knows exactly where this is going,” says David A. Gross, who publishes the box office newsletter FranchiseRe. He notes that overseas audiences could contribute to the film’s theatrical longevity. “Sci-fi thrillers do well abroad. These are visual stories that everyone understands.”

Spielberg, who helped create the summer box office season with “Jaws” in 1975, is the most commercial director of all time thanks to escapist blockbusters like “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “Jurassic Park” and “Raiders of the Lost Arc.” Spielberg has more recently favored prestige fare like “The Post,” “West Side Story” and “The Fabelmans,” which scored hordes of Oscar nominations but didn’t successfully introduce the prolific filmmaker to younger generations. That was reflected in the turnout for “Disclosure Day,” where 60% of moviegoers were 35 or older. Initial crowds were eager to watch the twisty conspiracy thriller on the biggest and brightest screens, with premium large formats representing a mighty 48% of grosses. “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.

“Spielberg is one of the preeminent filmmakers in the history of this industry,” says Universal’s domestic distribution president Jim Orr while noting that audiences cited “director” as their main reason for wanting to see the film. “It’s the kind of movie that audiences are going to be talking about for quite some time. It’s a theatrical event that makes you think.”

Elsewhere at the domestic box office, last weekend’s newcomers, Paramount’s horror parody “Scary Movie” and Amazon MGM’s toy adaptation “Masters of the Universe,” each suffered a brutal 70% decline in their sophomore outings.

“Scary Movie” slid to third place with $14.5 million from 3,504 theaters, bringing domestic ticket sales to $84.5 million and $173.1 million worldwide. Despite the steep drop in attendance, “Scary Movie” cost just $30 million to produce and is poised to reap financial rewards.

“Masters of the Universe,” on the other hand, will have a harder time justifying its mega price tag. The sword-and-planet adventure dropped to No. 5 with $8.6 million from 3,677 locations. It has earned just $45.7 million in North America and $84 million worldwide against a nearly $200 million budget. “Masters of the Universe” is based on the ’80s Mattel toy and cartoon, and this kind of turnout suggests the movie isn’t expanding beyond the core fanbase of older males.

Meanwhile “Obsession” continues to do unprecedented business with $19 million in its fifth weekend of release, a 25% decline and enough for second place on box office charts. What’s more impressive is the breakout horror hit, directed by YouTube creator Curry Barker, has had four consecutive weekends that were larger than its already-impressive $17 million debut. Now the low-budget “Obsession” has generated $188.3 million in North America and $265 million mark globally. It’s the highest-grossing release of all time for its distributor, Focus Features.

“Backrooms,” another horror sensation, captured the No. 4 spot with $12 million from 3,404 venues in its third weekend. The film, from another YouTube phenom Kane Parsons, has grossed $160 million domestically and roughly $250 million worldwide to date. After less than two weekends on the big screen, “Backrooms” overtook “Marty Supreme” ($191 million) as A24’s highest grossing movie of all time.

Meanwhile, Disney’s “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” keeps faltering at the box office. In sixth place, the film brought in $4.7 million from 2,680 venues in its fourth outing. The space adventure, a spinoff of the popular Disney+ series “The Mandalorian,” is shaping up as a major theatrical dud with $165 million domestically and $315 million globally against a $165 million price tag.

Another new release, the disaster parody “Stop! That! Train!,” opened in ninth place with $2 million from 1,161 locations. The well-reviewed comedy, from director Adam Shankman, follows two stewardesses who have to save the day when a huge storm threatens to derail a high-speed train. RuPaul leads the cast alongside several “Drag Race” favorites like Ginger Minj and Jujubee.

“We are very pleased with the enthusiastic response from both fans of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ and newcomers alike,” the film’s distributor Bleecker Street said in a statement. “We have had multiple sellouts in major markets and look forward to continuing to take audiences nationwide on this hilarious ride.” 

Right now the domestic box office is 13.2% ahead of last year, according to Rentrak. What’s more notable is the summer season is pacing just 3% behind 2019 — a difference of $45 million — the last pre-pandemic year when “Avengers: Endgame” was cementing all kinds of records. Next weekend’s “Toy Story 5,” which should be the summer’s first tentpole to launch above $100 million, could help to close that gap. Then the “Despicable Me” spinoff “Minions & Monsters,” Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” look to keep auditoriums bustling through the rest of popcorn season.