The unexpected success of Obsession and Backrooms is forcing Old Hollywood to rethink what gives a summer blockbuster staying power.

The diverging financial performances of Pixar’s Toy Story 5 and Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day suggest that traditional Hollywood blockbusters may need to function not only as spectacles but as culturally relevant signposts that create word of mouth by connecting with contemporary values and topical issues that define the news cycle.

Both Toy Story 5 and Disclosure Day achieved huge opening weekends. Disclosure Day grossed $93.9 million globally and $44 million domestically over the June 12 weekend, the top opening for an original Steven Spielberg movie.

One week later, Toy Story 5 achieved $312 million globally and $160 million domestically, the biggest opening weekend of any film in 2026. But Disclosure Day’s box office revenue tallied off dramatically, and the movie may struggle to break even.

Toy Story 5, however, continues to steamroll its way through global box office success with $769 million in revenue. Disclosure Day, centered on themes of aliens and UFOs, felt culturally irrelevant, while Toy Story 5 tapped into contemporary themes of parenting and technology anxiety.

‘Toy Story 5’ Appeals To A Larger Audience

Toy Story 5 has benefitted from its multigenerational appeal, and 70% of viewers have seen the movie as part of a family. But Disclosure Day has appealed to a narrower audience. According to Variety, 60% of U.S. moviegoers watching Disclosure Day are 35 or older, and 55% of ticket buyers cite Spielberg himself as the primary........

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