Spielberg’s Empty Hope

A recent number-one box-office movie was Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day, an alien sci-fi thriller that seemed poised to return Spielberg to his early glory days (Close Encounters, E.T.), as the wizard-in-chief of Hollywood, the most talented artist at the dawn of the blockbuster era. But Spielberg’s big openings are ever smaller, around $44 million; the public interest wanes faster, and he has no influence on the culture anymore. The magic is gone, and in fact, it’s getting hard for audiences to remember how impressive Spielberg was. But he has more movies opening at number 1 at the box office than anyone else, 18, over 50 years.