Watch This Before You See Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]Are you ready to learn the truth? Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day promises some explosive revelations about alien life, and we have everything you need to know before it blows everyone's minds.

[00:00:10]In the 1990s, The X-Files popularized the phrase that became a rallying cry for UFO truthers everywhere: The truth is out there. It's been several decades since then, but the new film Disclosure Day goes one step further [music] with its tagline, "We deserve to know."

[00:00:22]>> Full disclosure to the whole world all at once.

[00:00:27]>> Whether or not we're alone in the universe is a question that humans have been asking for who knows how many years.

[00:00:32]>> [music] >> It's a question that's inspired countless science fiction films dating all the way back to the invention of the moving picture itself. And out of all those movies, some of the very best were directed by the legendary Steven Spielberg.

[00:00:41]>> I've made a lot of movies about things that cannot be explained, from sharks to saucers.

[00:00:46]>> Spielberg's appreciation for all things extraterrestrial began during his childhood, but we don't need to go back that far. If you've seen The Fabelmans, you probably have a decent idea of how his earlier years went.

[00:00:56]>> When I was just a little kid, I remember developing a real curiosity about the sky at night and what's happening up there.

[00:01:03]>> Spielberg isn't just considered one of the best filmmakers working today, he's also the highest-grossing filmmaker ever. Disclosure Day is his 37th feature film, his 11th in the sci-fi genre, and his sixth to feature aliens. There aren't many other topics that Spielberg likes to revisit more than that.

[00:01:17]>> I I don't believe we're alone in the universe.

[00:01:20]I think it's mathematically impossible that we are the only you know, you know, intelligent species in in the in the cosmos. There's something something going on that we're really not being made made that's not being disclosed to us.

[00:01:33]>> That's an interesting choice of words from [music] Spielberg made during a 2023 interview with Stephen Colbert. No one knew it at the time, but the director was secretly teasing [music] his upcoming project. Now that it's finally time for the truth to be disclosed, let's prepare by taking a look at the many aliens that Spielberg has brought to life over the course of his lengthy [music] career.

[00:01:50]When people talk about Spielberg's first film, they're usually talking about Duel, not Jaws. That's a common misconception. Duel is a stripped-back nail-biter of a thriller, but it's technically not Spielberg's debut either. Instead, that honor goes to Firelight, an alien invasion movie that he directed when he was just 17 years old. So, why don't people talk about Firelight? Probably because no one can watch it. Only 3 minutes and 40 seconds of the film's 135-minute runtime have survived to the present day, with the rest having been lost to time. Spielberg isn't particularly broken up about that, as he once called Firelight {quote} "one of the five worst films ever made."

[00:02:25]Spielberg also wrote the movie and composed the score, the latter [music] of which was transcribed to sheet music by his pianist mother and performed by his high school's band. Starring a handful of his theater kid classmates and his sister Nancy, Firelight is about an Arizona town that comes under attack by a mysterious alien race. As scientists race to figure out why locals are disappearing, they [music] uncover a disturbing truth that the extraterrestrials are planning to bring humans to their home planet so they can lock them up in a [music] zoo.

[00:02:49]>> Debbie, it's attracted to noise. Be quiet.

[00:02:52]>> Go and scare!

[00:02:53]>> Is Firelight any good despite Spielberg's remarks? We couldn't tell you. We haven't watched it either. What we do know is that the film turned out to be incredibly influential [music] in his early development as a filmmaker, which makes it one of the most important movies that barely anyone has seen.

[00:03:07]13 years after Firelight, Spielberg took the lessons he learned from his first feature and applied them to something much bigger and better, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The director reunited with Jaws star Richard Dreyfuss to tell the story of Roy Neary, an ordinary man driven to obsession after an inexplicable encounter with a UFO. It's easy to write off UFO enthusiasts as cranks who've lost touch with reality, but if you saw incontrovertible proof of alien life with your own eyes and tried to tell people about it, you'd sound crazy, too. As Roy sees visions of a mysterious mountain, he becomes so fixated on it that he completely alienates his wife and kids, pun intended.

[00:03:41]>> This means something.

[00:03:44]This is important.

[00:03:46]>> With the help of single mom Jillian, whose 3-year-old son was recently abducted, Roy sets out to prove that he really did see a UFO. While things can get a little intense at times, Close Encounters ultimately ends on a hopeful note as humans figure out how to converse with the aliens by using music.

[00:04:01]Close Encounters has had a whole lot of influence on other movies and shows in the nearly 50 years since its release, referenced by everything from South Park to Project Hail Mary. It would have been the biggest sci-fi release of 1977 if it wasn't for a little film called Star Wars.

[00:04:16]None of Spielberg's alien movies are quite as iconic as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. His 1982 classic about a candy-loving alien and his human friend, Elliott. Even though it's been more than four decades since this movie hit theaters, E.T. is one of the most recognizable aliens in pop culture history.

[00:04:31]>> He's a man from outer space, and we're taking him to his spaceship.

[00:04:35]>> Well, can't he just beam up?

[00:04:38]>> This is reality, Greg.

[00:04:39]>> E.T. was Spielberg's most family-friendly film when it released, and it probably still is. It is a more innocent and sentimental take on alien life than any of his other characters that come from far away worlds. E.T.

[00:04:50]doesn't want to destroy humanity or abduct innocent children. All he wants is to find a way home so he can hang out with his alien buddies again. The only villains here are the government agents that would rather study him than help him out. E.T. is filled to the brim with unforgettable scenes, memorable characters, and endlessly quotable dialogue.

[00:05:07]>> I'll be right here.

[00:05:13]>> War of the Worlds [music] is probably the most enduring alien invasion story ever told, from H.G. Wells' original novel in 1898 to Orson Welles' way too convincing radio play in 1938 to Steven Spielberg's fourth alien-based movie in 2005. In the latter, Tom Cruise stars as Ray Ferrier, a lousy dad who has to step up and protect his kids when giant mechanical tripods emerge from underground. What follows is one of the bleaker entries on Spielberg's sci-fi resume.

[00:05:38]>> Is it terrorists?

[00:05:41]>> This came from someplace else.

[00:05:43]>> What do you mean, like Europe?

[00:05:44]>> No, ROBBIE, NOT LIKE EUROPE.

[00:05:46]>> Spielberg's War of the Worlds isn't quite as widely beloved as ET or even Close Encounters, but that doesn't make it any less effective. The sequence in which the tripods first arrive is still one of the most frightening in his filmography, up there with the scariest scenes from Jaws and Jurassic Park.

[00:06:01]There's no talking to or reasoning with these aliens. All they do is turn humans [music] into fertilizer. The movie has its flaws, sure, but it's still an exciting watch with some of the most menacing aliens that Spielberg has ever created. It's the best War of the Worlds movie of the 20th century, [music] although its competition isn't exactly fierce.

[00:06:19]If you're a sci-fi fan, Spielberg returning to the alien invasion genre with disclosure day is reason enough to be excited. But the last time that aliens showed up in one of his movies, people weren't happy about it at all.

[00:06:30]That's largely because no one knew they were coming, [music] and even more so because that movie was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Yes, in a series that includes its protagonist pretty much discovering proof that God exists, interdimensional aliens were a step too far for most.

[00:06:45]Well, that and the infamous [music] nuke-proof fridge. It didn't help that the alien here only showed up at the end as a twist, vaporizing Cate Blanchett and leaving in its UFO as abruptly as it appeared.

[00:06:55]>> Where did they go?

[00:06:58]Space?

[00:07:00]>> Not into space.

[00:07:02]Into the space between spaces.

[00:07:05]>> In fairness to Spielberg, it wasn't actually his idea to put aliens in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. According to the special features on the movie's DVD, that was the brainchild of George Lucas, who's had a massive hand in crafting Indy's story since the very beginning. So, if the ending of Crystal Skull still irks you to this day, you can blame the same guy who gave the world Jar Jar Binks.

[00:07:25]That brings us to the present day, disclosure day that is. But what's the movie actually about, besides aliens, of course? Spielberg and Universal have kept many of the details of disclosure day hush-hush, appropriate for a movie about top secret information. Still, there's plenty to be gleaned from the film's marketing. Things kick off when Margaret Fairchild, a journalist turned weather reporter, stops in the middle of a broadcast to make some bizarre, almost inhuman clicking sounds. That leads Daniel Kelnar, a cybersecurity expert, to track her down. Her connection might just [music] be the key to everything.

[00:07:57]>> Do you understand what she's saying?

[00:07:58]>> I hear it. It's gibberish. I can't [music] understand it.

[00:08:03]>> And I can't.

[00:08:05]>> Daniel wants the whole world to know the truth, which seems to have something to do with the sinister Wardex Corporation.

[00:08:10]Past that, we don't know much. At CinemaCon, Spielberg teased that none of Disclosure Day's third act is shown in its trailers. Out of all of Spielberg's alien-based movies, [music] Disclosure Day seems to have the most in common with Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

[00:08:24]Both films feature protagonists whose insistence on aliens being real makes them come across as a bit kooky, but they ultimately end up being correct.

[00:08:31]Talking to Empire magazine, star Emily Blunt teased that, "There are definitely questions posed by Close Encounters that are answered in Disclosure Day." That said, don't expect Richard Dreyfuss to make a cameo appearance.

[00:08:43]Naturally, Spielberg had no trouble finding big names who were not just willing, [music] but excited to bring his vision to life. So, who's in this thing anyway? Emily Blunt has been enjoying a high point in her career recently, from her Oscar-nominated role in Oppenheimer to her return to The Devil Wears Prada universe. In Disclosure Day, she plays Margaret, whose unexpected on-air clicking noises are vital to the plot.

[00:09:11]The past few years have been even kinder to Josh O'Connor. It's not that he wasn't a celebrated actor before, but his roles in Challengers, Wake Up Dead Man, and now Disclosure Day have made him a bigger star than ever. O'Connor told Deadline that Spielberg offered him the part of Daniel without even making him audition. The supporting cast is no less impressive. Colin Firth plays Noah Scanlon, the top boss at Wardex, who's in the business of keeping secrets.

[00:09:34]That's a pretty far cry from Firth's earlier roles in Mamma Mia and The King's Speech. Eve Hewson, who you might recognize from The Knick [music] and Spielberg's earlier movie Bridge of Spies, plays Daniel's girlfriend Jane, who gets wrapped up in the conspiracy.

[00:09:46]Colman Domingo, who most recently made waves for his role as Joe Jackson in Michael, plays a character named Hugo, who's in favor of disclosure. Domingo told Empire that he sees Hugo as the closest thing Disclosure Day has to a Spielberg self-insert. [music] >> This 79-year terror campaign of lies has to end.

[00:10:03]>> Wyatt Russell from Thunderbolts and Elizabeth Marvel from Homeland are also present, [music] with the cast rounded out by names like Henry Lloyd Hughes, Michael Gaston, Elliot Villar, and more.

[00:10:13]Spielberg is a master at crafting memorable movie moments, from the shark attacks in Jaws to Indy's escape in Raiders of the Lost Ark to the first dinosaur sighting in Jurassic Park. That said, none of those scenes would be nearly as effective if not for the musical talents of composer John Williams. Spielberg and Williams first collaborated on The Sugarland Express in 1974, and they've been creatively inseparable ever since. With the obvious exception of Firelights, every single Spielberg alien movie features a score composed by Williams. Disclosure Day is no different.

[00:10:42]>> I've never not liked something that John has written for one of my movies. I've never said, "Oh, I don't I don't I don't feel that's right for my movie."

[00:10:49]>> Disclosure Day marks a major milestone for the pair, as it's the 30th time that they've combined their talents. The last time that Spielberg went without Williams' help was during the production of West Side Story in 2021, but that was only because the music for it had already been written decades earlier.

[00:11:03]The trailers for Disclosure Day feature a taste of Williams' newest score, which is as epic as one would expect from a composer of his caliber. It's just one of many reasons to be excited for Spielberg's newest project.

[00:11:14]>> John, to you [music] and everything we have been and everything we will be.

[00:11:19]>> Yeah, 50 years more.

[00:11:21]>> And more.

[00:11:23]>> Disclosure Day is obviously a work of fiction, but it gets at a very real concern that Spielberg has had for a long time. The director has been pretty clear in [music] his belief that no one should be kept in the dark about alien life, but he also understands that such a revelation would have massive consequences across the planet. He told Empire magazine, "There are also great questions on what kind of social and theological disruption would occur if such an event was disclosed beyond anyone's reasonable doubts." Spielberg restated his belief in alien life and revealed that making Disclosure Day helped him come to terms with the unknown, continuing, "I cannot imagine that we are alone out there. That question has not only haunted me, but it has inspired me. But I think it is now resolved itself to my satisfaction in Disclosure Day."

[00:12:03]>> Whatever happens, don't you let go.

[00:12:05]>> Given Spielberg's talent and stature in the industry, some more conspiratorial types have theorized that the release of Disclosure Day will help usher in an era of real-life disclosure. The movie's screenwriter, David Koepp, said he was entertained by the theory, but claimed that the movie's marketing rollout isn't nearly that impressive. He joked, "I will say I was never contacted by a member of the government on this. Still, the timing is interesting given the recent release of UFO information by the US government. It may not be time for Disclosure Day, the real-life event, but it's almost time for Disclosure Day, the cinematic event. All will be revealed when the film hits theaters on June 12th.

[00:12:39]>> There will be no other day like tomorrow.