NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� A moment early on in will instinctively feel familiar to anyone who grew up with Steven Spielberg films. A TV weather report predicts hail. The camera pans downward, from television set to kitchen table. Plinking sounds begin. Cereal falls into a bowl.
鈥淭hose were Froot Loops,鈥� Spielberg says, smiling. 鈥淢y favorite.鈥�
Spielberg鈥檚 latest, like some of his earliest and most beloved films, again concerns what might fall from above. 鈥淒isclosure Day,鈥� which Universal Pictures releases June 11, returns Hollywood鈥檚 preeminent big-screen craftsman to one of his most abiding questions: Are we alone?
Coming nearly half a century after 鈥淐lose Encounters of the Third Kind,鈥� 鈥淒isclosure Day鈥� is a grand bookend for one of the most cosmically-minded moviemakers of our time, whose dreams of extraterrestrial life have shaped all of ours. It鈥檚 a distant answer to the final notes of 鈥淐lose Encounters.鈥� But while Spielberg grants his 1977 film was 鈥渟peculative,鈥� 鈥淒isclosure Day,鈥� he insists, is the real deal.
鈥淚t鈥檚 my first film that will be considered science fiction that I do not consider to be science fiction,鈥� Spielberg said in a recent interview. 鈥淚t鈥檚 much more reflective of the world as it is evolving and discoveries that are being made as we speak.鈥�
Spielberg, at 79, is trying to revive and reconsider the alien wonder that鈥檚 long lingered in his mind, from 鈥淓.T.鈥� to 鈥淲ar of the Worlds.鈥� 鈥淒isclosure Day,鈥� Spielberg鈥檚 first in a decade, is already being hailed as one of his best in years. But this time, Spielberg is testing whether he can conjure some of his trademark movie magic less with imagination than with conviction.
鈥淚鈥檝e been a believer since I made 鈥楥lose Encounters鈥� 50 years ago,鈥� Spielberg says. 鈥淏ut I would always say: Until I鈥檝e seen a UAP or a UFO with my own eyes, I鈥檓 not going to categorically state that life from out there has come here.
鈥淏ut I鈥檝e changed that,鈥� he adds. 鈥淚鈥檓 now willing to change my mind because of the circumstantial evidence which is overwhelming.鈥�
Aliens again, but different
鈥淒isclosure Day鈥� stars Josh O鈥機onnor as a cybersecurity whistleblower with government evidence, long suppressed, chronicling a history of alien encounters. Guiding him in his escape from a corporate executive (Colin Firth) trying to keep it all under wraps is the disclosure movement鈥檚 leader (Colman Domingo). Meanwhile, a meteorologist named Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) begins having a mysterious epiphany.
When he first began thinking about the movie, Spielberg called up the , a longtime collaborator who wrote 鈥淛urassic Park鈥� and 鈥淲ar of the Worlds.鈥�
鈥淚 said, 鈥楽ure, what鈥檚 it about?鈥欌�� recalls Koepp. 鈥淎nd he said, 鈥極h, you know, aliens again. But different this time.鈥欌��
Spielberg was coming off an unusually long break by his breakneck standards. His 2022 film 鈥淭he Fabelmans鈥� pulled from his own childhood, dramatizing his parents鈥� painful divorce and his own origins as a filmmaker. Spielberg鈥檚 left him unsure of what was next.
鈥淚t was the hardest question I ever had to ask myself because there was such completion in resolving so many personal issues that I had never aired in public before 鈥楾he Fabelmans,鈥欌�� Spielberg says.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 care whether people thought 鈥楾he Fabelmans鈥� was just a tale, a yarn, or if they cared that it was all true. I didn鈥檛 care about that. It was something I did for myself. I always used to say it was $40 million of therapy that I didn鈥檛 have to pay for. Universal did,鈥� he says, laughing.
But Spielberg, having long followed reports of alleged alien encounters, was inspired by the 2023 House Subcommittee on National Security hearing on UAPs: Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena. Among the witnesses was whistleblower and former Air Force intelligence officer David Grusch, who testified that the government
The Pentagon then denied it. Yet in April, President Donald Trump said the Pentagon is preparing to release
Those 2023 testimonies and others so fueled Spielberg that he produced a 50-page treatment on what would become 鈥淒isclosure Day.” During the writing process with Koepp, he texted him more notes, he says, 鈥渢han I鈥檝e ever sent to anyone in my life.鈥�
鈥淭here was a period in there where I believe he re-read the script every single day for a year,鈥� Koepp says. 鈥淲e鈥檇 be in different time zones and I would wake up to 30 or 35 texts from his most current reading of the script. When the leader of the project has that level of commitment, it tends to bring along everyone. You up your game.鈥�
Extraterrestrial empathy
Spielberg has long considered his filmography split in two, between the filmmaker who made 鈥淛aws鈥� and 鈥淓.T.鈥� and 鈥淩aiders of the Lost Ark,鈥� and the one who, after 1985鈥檚 鈥淭he Color Purple,鈥� was increasingly drawn to darker and more serious material with films like 鈥淪chindler鈥檚 List,鈥� 鈥淪aving Private Ryan鈥� and 鈥淢unich.鈥�
鈥淒isclosure Day鈥� is a kind of bridge between both modes of Spielberg 鈥� a thrilling chase movie filled with wonderment that鈥檚 nevertheless grounded in reality and recent history. And its most ardent message is quite earthbound. Blunt鈥檚 character鈥檚 clarity comes from looking people in the eye. As much as it鈥檚 about aliens, 鈥淒isclosure Day鈥� is about empathy.
鈥淚 think every movie should have a great emphasis on empathy because empathy sometimes feels like it鈥檚 in short supply,鈥� Spielberg says. 鈥淲e have it, sometimes we can鈥檛 use it. Sometimes it鈥檚 not allowed to be used if you want to stay aligned with your friends and your belief systems. But I think empathy is there for all of us.鈥�
鈥淒isclosure Day鈥� opens in a much different movie world than Spielberg’s earlier alien adventures. It’s one of few big, original studio movies this summer 鈥� a moviegoing season that . But neither franchise domination, AI nor streaming make Spielberg fret for the future of movies.
鈥淭he audience gives me faith in the movies,” says Spielberg. “Even though the numbers are still not pre-COVID level numbers for any films being released now, it鈥檚 more robust than it has been for many years. The audience gives me belief that people still want to congregate in a dark space in the company of strangers to share an experience of a film made by storytellers. And that gives me faith to continue making films.鈥�
Spielberg will turn 80 this December. Around the same age, how many movies he had left. Spielberg doesn鈥檛 think the same way.
鈥淚 never think about how many more I have,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 just hopeful that I will be inspired when something comes along, as I was with 鈥楧isclosure Day,鈥� as I was with 鈥楩abelmans,鈥� as I was with
More inspiration is already on the way. Spielberg hopes that his next movie will be a Western. Despite his deep fondness for the genre and an indelible encounter with John Ford, it鈥檚 one genre that鈥檚 eluded him.
鈥淚 always feel like parts of the 鈥楻aiders鈥� adventure movies are like Westerns,鈥� he says. 鈥淲henever Harrison (Ford) was on a horse, it made me wistful for wanting to direct a full Western, a real Western.鈥�
Margaret Fairchild in 鈥淒isclosure Day鈥� has some echoes with another Spielberg protagonist: Richard Dreyfuss鈥� Roy Neary in 鈥淐lose Encounters.鈥� Both are compelled by a strange force beyond their control. It鈥檚 a character type that Spielberg, a compulsive movie maker, grants he connects with. 鈥淒isclosure Day鈥� is his 35th feature film.
鈥淚 identify with characters who aren鈥檛 afraid of mysterious things happening to them,鈥� Spielberg says, 鈥渁nd who are fighting for their survival by trying to discover what they don鈥檛 know.鈥�
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