Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day Rotten Tomatoes Score Officially Cracks Audience Record After 44 Years - MCE Notices | California State Portal

Steven Spielberg has finally declassified Disclosure Day to the world.

After years of experimenting with genres from semi-biopics to a musical classic, the legendary director returns with his fourth-ever alien-based movie. In Disclosure Day, a cybersecurity analyst, Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor), and a meteorologist, Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt), race to tell the truth about alien existence while uncovering a special link between them. After months of speculation and curiosity, the sci-fi thriller has landed in theaters, ready to unravel the mystery and reveal the outcome for moviegoers.

Disclosure Day earned a generally positive reception, with a solid 75% score on Rotten Tomatoes from over 1000 verified ratings. That’s currently Spielberg’s second-highest-rated alien movie with audiences, just behind Close Encounters of the Third Kind‘s 85%. On a more surprising note, Disclosure Day edges over E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (72%), while the lowest among the four is War of the Worlds (42%). The rating is also not far from the 80% critical score.

Every Steven Spielberg Alien Movie	Rotten Tomatoes Critics’ Score	Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)	91%	85%
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)	99%	72%
War of the Worlds (2005)	76%	42%
Disclosure Day (2026)	80%	75%

Several Disclosure Day reviews highlight that the story engages the in-depth unraveling of the question of human empathy and faith, and the philosophical approach is refreshing compared to others with intense UFO narratives. Blunt delivers a career-best performance with a layered and emotional portrayal of Margaret, and it’s sparked potential award consideration.

Despite a very solid audience score, the new alien thriller has actually turned out to be far more polarizing than it appears at a glance. For instance, the CinemaScore was just a B, one of Spielberg’s lowest, while the IMDb is at a lukewarm 6.9. Disclosure Day‘s anti-climactic ending, alongside the slow pacing and plot holes, prompted some division among critics and audiences.

While Spielberg is one of the most influential directors in Hollywood, he isn’t without a few bumps in his career, including his early work, 1941, and the polarizing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Still, at the age of 79, he remains one of the more active filmmakers and takes on challenges to enhance the cinema experience.

Spielberg’s next movie after Disclosure Day is an original Western movie, and it’s his first in the position of director. While it’s still in the early stages, he revealed that “There will be no tropes… There’s going to be no stereotypes.“

Alongside the main duo, the remaining Disclosure Day cast features Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo, Wyatt Russell, and Elizabeth Marvel. While Spielberg also developed the story, long-time collaborator David Koepp wrote the screenplay.

Disclosure Day is now playing in theaters.