Yes, a new Steven Spielberg movie about close encounters with extraterrestrials is landing — and misses the mark.

Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day,” billed as his first popcorn movie in years, launched with $44 million in domestic theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday.

In fact, the closing act of the movie is all about how Kansas City meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) and cybersecurity expert Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) blow open a nearly century-old...