Steven Spielberg has been returning to New Jersey to capture the magic of the sky opening up and changing everything for the better, and his latest work “Disclosure Day” is no exception in the most astonishing ways. The alien discovery thriller, which hits the theaters nationwide on June 12 and is set to become available for rental and purchase on July 21, utilized New Jersey as an alternative filming location in ways that the filmmakers found surprising, as they found at least six different areas in the state that could double for Kansas, Missouri, and Maryland.
Set in the near future, “Disclosure Day” follows cybersecurity expert Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor), who becomes tangled in interstellar politics when he steals documents from defense contractor Wardex, revealing humanity is not alone in the universe. He connects with television weathercaster Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt), who finds herself in the crosshairs of the hunt for extraterrestrial life after her on-air segment inadvertently exposes the alien transmissions. The film also stars Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo, and Elizabeth Marvel, as Steven Spielberg revisits the well-worn sci-fi territory he previously explored as a young director with the seminal “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977). “Disclosure Day” replaces the government conspiracy at the heart of Spielberg’s earlier work with a modern-day look at who profits most from the discovery of life beyond Earth.
Spielberg’s collaborators on “Disclosure Day” were also worth noting, as the filmmaker worked again with his closest collaborators, including cinematographer Janusz Kaminski and editor Michael Kahn, and convinced John Williams to return to the franchise, with his score being his most outstanding work since “Jaws” and “Jurassic Park” defined his early years. Notably, David Koepp’s screenplay, which was based on a treatment by Spielberg himself, was also well received, with critics praising Emily Blunt’s performance and the film’s generally upbeat tone. The film currently has an excellent Rotten Tomatoes score of 80 percent, with the critical consensus highlighting Blunt’s performance and the film’s overall optimism.
Despite the overwhelmingly positive critical reception, “Disclosure Day” was a financial disappointment, as the box office performance serves as a cautionary tale about theatrical distribution. The film had a strong debut, grossing $44.5 million from 3,824 North American theaters, which was well above the $35 million, according to many box office analysts. It had a steep drop of 62 percent in its second weekend, and it continued to underperform in the following weeks, with just 1,288 theaters statewide by mid July. Disclosure Day made $113.2 million domestically and $119.7 million overseas when it became available for online rental and purchase, which is a healthy if unspectacular result for a film with an $232.9 million worldwide total. The film had a production budget of $115 million marketing budget and $80 million production budget, so most industry observers expect it to turn a profit worldwide, but its overall performance was merely mediocre for such a prominent film.
Those who want to see “Disclosure Day” should be able to do so on demand, as it will be available for rental for $19.99 and purchase for $24.99 on platforms like Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV. Additionally, exhibitors who have physical media inventory will be able to acquire 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD copies of the film on August 25. Those who have a subscription to streaming services may have to wait until sometime in September to see the film, as it is set to arrive on Peacock, its expected proprietary streaming home, but Universal Pictures has yet to announce an exact window.
The reason why “Disclosure Day” is of particular interest in New Jersey is because of the extent to which the state was used to depict other locations, which speaks volumes about the state’s film production infrastructure. Filmmakers utilized resources in ten different municipalities in the state, including Atlantic, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, and Morris counties, for 23 days of principal photography. It generated a $34 million economic impact on the state, with over 1,800 jobs created, and a 12 million tax credit from the state for qualified in-state production expenditures, which is an incentive for local film and television production.
The places where “Disclosure Day” was filmed are also interesting, as they highlight the lengths to which the production team went to make the state look like other locations. The filmmakers used the Cape May Seashore Lines, a private railroad, to depict the large-scale freight train collision that occurs in the film, which the state’s film commission knows will be challenging to recreate elsewhere due to the private ownership of the rails. The production team also transformed the New Jersey Institute of Technology campus in Newark into a television newsroom, creating a look similar to what Emily Blunt’s character would see on a daily basis. Other locations include a Dick’s Sporting Goods store at Woodbridge Center and a former airfield in Whippany, Hanover Township, for the look of military installations, and the film crew also used the streets of Jersey City, with footage appearing in scenes that were filmed on Montgomery Street and Bergen Avenue, to depict urban life.
NJEDA Chief Executive Officer Evan Weiss said the production was proof that New Jersey is becoming a bigger player in the film industry, and it was exciting to see Steven Spielberg back in the state making a sci-fi film. He added that the state’s film tax incentive program played a vital role in helping to create jobs throughout the local economy during the production. Jon Crowley, the Managing Director of NJMPTVC, also spoke about the effort that went into landing the production, noting that it was always intended to shoot elsewhere before the state’s film commission was able to convince the production that New Jersey could meet all of its needs, including the private railway.
It is not the first time that Spielberg has been in New Jersey, as the famed auteur has been returning to his home state to film whenever the location was necessary. He was previously in the state to shoot some of the locations for his 2005 film “War of the Worlds,” which was set in Bayonne, Newark, and Howell Township, and his 2021 remake of “West Side Story” was also largely filmed in New Jersey, with Paterson and Newark standing in for the city streets of 1950s New York. Spielberg has also been in the state to shoot “Catch Me If You Can” in 2002, so “Disclosure Day” is just the latest installment in his long-standing relationship with the state. It is partly practical, as he often chooses New Jersey when its variety of environments is necessary for the film, but there is also likely to be a sentimental reason, as he spent part of his childhood in Haddon Township.
