For nearly 50 years, Steven Spielberg has been asking whether humanity is alone. In "Discovery Day," he seems less interested in imagining an answer than in confronting the possibility that the answer may be closer than we think.
Universal Pictures' new film returns Spielberg to the alien territory that has defined his career with films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind., «"The Extra-Terrestrial"» и «War of the Worlds» . This time, Spielberg says, he doesn't see the film as science fiction.
In a new interview with the Associated Press, Spielberg said that «"Disclosure Day"» reflects the world as it exists today and the discoveries being made today. This makes the film more memorable than a simple nostalgic return to the wonders of aliens.
Spielberg says his beliefs have changed.
Spielberg told the AP that he has believed in the possibility of alien life ever since he made film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" »" almost 50 years ago. However, for decades he refrained from making direct statements about the appearance of extraterrestrial life on Earth, as he had not personally seen a UFO or UFOs.
He now claims he has changed his mind because of what he says is overwhelming circumstantial evidence.
This does not mean that he represents «"Disclosure Day"» as a documentary. This means the film is built on a conviction that differs from the speculative awe that underpinned some of his earlier alien stories.
Spielberg isn't simply returning to the topic of aliens. He's returning to it at a time when government hearings, whistleblower statements, declassified materials, and public interest in UFOs have brought the topic to the forefront of public debate.
The film turns Disclosure into a chase story.
In the film «Disclosure Day» Josh O'Connor plays a cybersecurity whistleblower hiding evidence of alien encounters from the government. Colman Domingo plays a leader of the whistleblower movement, and Colin Firth plays a corporate executive trying to keep the information secret.
Emily Blunt plays Margaret Fairchild, a meteorologist who begins to encounter a mysterious phenomenon that connects her to a larger story. The AP describes the film as a bridge between Spielberg's classic sense of wonder and a more realistic world of recent history, secrecy, and public mistrust.
This structure allows Spielberg to use familiar techniques, but with a different atmosphere. Danger, stalking, mystery, and suspense are still present. The difference is that the new film engages with contemporary anxieties about who controls information and what happens when the hidden truth finally becomes unstoppable.
Real UFO evidence helped to make this film.
Spielberg was partly inspired by the 2023 House Subcommittee Hearings on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, also known as UFOs. Former Air Force intelligence officer David Grush testified that the government concealed a UFO research program, something the Pentagon denied.
These hearings prompted Spielberg to develop a 50-page script for the film "« Disclosure Day »"He then teamed up with his longtime collaborator David Koepp, a screenwriter for films «Jurassic Park» и «War of the Worlds» , turned this idea into a full-fledged film.
Koepp told the AP that Spielberg constantly reread the script and sent an unusually large number of notes. «"Disclosure Day"» It doesn't sound like a typical return to familiar themes. It feels like a film Spielberg was forced to make.
In the film "Disclosure Day", the story of the Fabelman family unexpectedly repeats itself.
Spielberg's final film, "The Fabelmans," was his most overtly autobiographical work. In it, he recounted his childhood, his parents' divorce, and the origins of his filmmaking career.
After such personal reflection, Spielberg told the AP that he had to ask himself what should happen next.
It seems, «"Disclosure Day"» — this is what is needed: a film that returns to the spectacular, but still retains personal conviction.
В Fabelmans in their work looked inside ourselves, into the soul of a boy who became a film director. In the film "Day of Disclosure"« They address the outer mystery that has haunted this director for much of his career.
Empathy remains at the heart of Spielberg's plot.
Even with aliens, secret evidence, whistleblowers and corporate secrecy, Spielberg told the AP that «Disclosure Day» — it’s also a question of empathy.
This message connects the new film with his earlier works. «"The Extra-Terrestrial"» was never just a movie about a creature from another world. «Close Encounters of the Third Kind» were never just a movie about lights in the sky. In his alien films, Spielberg often used the unknown to test whether people could respond with curiosity rather than fear.
The film "Day of Revelation"« brings this question to an era of heightened suspicion. If people are presented with evidence that the world is much larger than they thought, the film asks: how will they react—with fear, denial, a desire for control, or a desire for connection?
Spielberg still believes in the importance of going to the cinema.
Image courtesy of Fred Duval / Shutterstock.
The film "Day of Disclosure"« comes out in a completely different world of the film industry than the one that Spielberg helped shape. «Jaws» helped create the modern summer blockbuster, but now it's releasing one of the studio's few big original films in a season still dominated by franchises, sequels, and familiar brands.
Spielberg told the AP that he still believes in moviegoers. He said people still want to sit in a dark theater with strangers and share the story created by filmmakers.
This optimism gives the release additional depth. «"Disclosure Day"» It's not just a new alien thriller from the legendary director. It's also a test of whether Spielberg's original summer film can still be perceived as a major cultural event in a marketplace built around existing intellectual property.
He's already thinking about a Western.
Spielberg turns 80 in December, but in an interview with the AP, he said he doesn't think about how many films he still has to make. He expressed hope that a new idea will inspire him in the same way that «"Disclosure Day"» , «Fabelmans» и «West Side Story» .
He also said that he hopes his next film will be a Western. Despite his love for the genre and the presence of Westerns in films about Indiana Jones , Spielberg never made a full-fledged Western.
This detail prevents the interview from feeling like a final chapter. Spielberg looks back on «Close Encounters of the Third Kind» , reflects on the present and still imagines a genre that he has not yet fully explored.
Returning to Aliens isn't just nostalgia.
Secret Reveal Day comes almost half a century after the film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"« made contact with aliens one of Spielberg's main obsessions. The new film doesn't seem to be intended to precisely replicate this earlier miracle.
Instead, Spielberg seems to be asking what contact with aliens means in a world shaped by leaks, mistrust, secret programs, digital evidence, corporate power, and public demand for answers.
The result is perhaps one of the most revealing films of his late period. Spielberg returns to the heavens, but this time he doesn't view this mystery as a mere dream. He treats it as a question that the whole world may already be asking out loud.