This summer, fans are being graced with a new movie from the great Steven Spielberg and, with it, the filmmaker is returning to a genre he’s very familiar with. Spielberg’s feature film, Disclosure Day, is a science-fiction film that centers around a conspiracy that seemingly involves a UFO. Given that premise, many have already been comparing this 2026 movie schedule entry to some of Spielberg’s past films, which have dealt with similar subject matter. Now, the film’s writer is responding to that assumption, and I love his take.
Spielberg has obviously dipped his toes into stories revolving around humanity making contact with beings from other planets. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and War of the Worlds represent other instances in which the Oscar winner has depicted such events. David Koepp penned the script for this latest film, and he’s heard the comparisons that have been tossed around. While speaking to SFX Magazine on CinemaBlend, Koepp weighed in on how DD relates to its predecessors thematically:
What I find interesting is that he’s now told stories in this particular subject area four times, and each one has a very different tone. Close Encounters has little to do with ET, which has nothing to do with War Of The Worlds, and this is different from all of them. By changing genre every time, he allows himself to tell the story in a different way and avoid repeating himself. We all want to work with the material we want to work with, and you’re interested in what you’re interested in, but changing your approach and the style of it is really smart.
Koepp – who’s been collaborating off and on with Spielberg since 1993’s Jurassic Park – makes points that I really agree with. First and foremost, the Jaws helmer isn’t one to repeat himself, so any concerns about him possibly rehashing any themes for his latest movie feel unwarranted. To that point, Spielberg’s previous UFO flicks are all different from each other as well. I mean, the intensity of WOTW is far different from the sweetness of the suburban-coded ET or the cosmic yearning present in Close Encounters.
On that note, many are probably still wondering what to expect from the plot of Steven Spielberg’s latest movie. Well, the Disclosure Day trailer doesn’t give too much away, but at the core of it seems to be one Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor), who seeks to reveal a massive secret to the world. As for what shaped Koepp’s approach to writing the screenplay based on Spielberg’s “40 or 50-page” treatment, he cited an iconic director:
I saw this more as a ’70s paranoid thriller. I wanted to write something that maybe Alan Pakula would look down and smile on. That was my mindset.
Pakula is known for producing dramas and thriller films like All the President’s Men and The Parallax View, so I’d say David Koepp’s source of inspiration is quite solid. Quite frankly, I just can’t wait to see how Steven Spielberg’s continued fascination with aliens manifests through this latest cinematic endeavor. Admittedly, I can imagine his new movie has slight similarities to his other UFO movies but, based on Koepp’s comments, viewers are in for something wholly original.
Check out Disclosure Day, which opens in theaters on June 12. While you wait for the film, do yourself a favor and revisit some of Steven Spielberg’s greatest movies, whether they’re alien-related or not.