“Disclosure Day” Official Trailer: Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor Uncover a Hidden Alien Language in Steven Spielberg’s Conspiracy-Laced UFO Thriller — In Theaters June 12th

Steven Spielberg returns to his UFO roots with this star-studded sci-fi mystery, where a strange news broadcast sparks a desperate search for the truth... and the possibility we have never been alone.

Mar 12, 2026

There’s no secret Steven Spielberg has long been captivated by the notion of extraterrestrial life. Alien beings that exist beyond humanity’s understanding have been at the core of a number of his earlier works. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and even his first student feature, 1964’s Firelight (a movie he made at age 17 with friends and family), all contained the element of humanity’s deep need to understand the unknown.

Spielberg himself once said he would change the ending of Close Encounters of the Third Kind; not out of vanity or some creative decision he foolishly arrived at later in life.

(Though he did briefly alter a memorable E.T. scene for its 20th Anniversary release, digitally erasing shotguns from the policemen’s hands and replacing them with walkie-talkies—a decision he later regretted.)

No, the Oscar-winning director said that once he had children of his own and understood what it meant to be a father, he felt it would be utterly irresponsible to have Richard Dreyfuss’s character, Roy, leave his family behind as he walks onto that spaceship in the final moments of Close Encounters. The ending, he later explained, came from a much younger Spielberg; still in his early 30s, unmarried, and without children at the time. The 1977 blockbuster was also one of the few films for which Spielberg wrote the screenplay himself, a sign of his deep passion for the subject matter.

When asked a few years ago by talk show host Stephen Colbert whether he still believed in UFOs, Spielberg offered an interesting reply, explaining that he remains a skeptical believer; or at least someone waiting for convincing evidence before fully accepting the idea of life beyond our solar system. But he also admitted he is utterly fascinated by the recent government acknowledgments surrounding unidentified aerial phenomena and the conversations that have come from them.

“I don’t believe we’re alone in the universe. I think it’s mathematically impossible that we are the only intelligent species in the cosmos. I think that’s totally impossible,” Spielberg said to Colbert, after confessing he had never once experienced or seen anything he couldn’t explain.

“And I think the secrecy that is shrouding all of these sightings and the lack of transparency until the Freedom of Information Act compels certain materials to be released publicly, I think that there is something going on that simply needs extraordinary… you know, due diligence. I mean, I just… I would like to hear more about it. I don’t know what they are,” Spielberg added.

The words “secrecy” and “transparency” are worth noting here, as this Spielberg interview took place three years ago and likely during a time when he was planning his latest feature film, Disclosure Day.

It’s a conspiracy-laden, star-powered thriller that brings the 79-year-old master filmmaker back to his UFO roots—one where he personally came up with the story idea and brought in frequent collaborator screenwriter David Koepp (Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds) to help flesh out the script.

What’s so riveting about this latest full-length Disclosure Day trailer, which offers our best look yet at the highly anticipated project, is that Spielberg seems just as interested in the “secrecy” surrounding the phenomenon as he is in the idea of aliens and UFOs. Seemingly gone is that typical Spielberg childlike wonder, replaced by a more cynical tone and perhaps the human struggle between wanting to know, needing to know, and fearing what the truth might reveal.

A younger Spielberg likely would have pushed back against that kind of cynicism, offering a more idealistic view of humanity’s desire to understand the unknown. But it’s fascinating to see an older Spielberg approach the idea from a more skeptical and reflective place, as someone we suppose has spent his entire life waiting for answers… and yet realizing he might never receive them.

Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, and Colman Domingo lead the film’s ensemble, seemingly playing characters all searching for the truth; some more deeply entangled in the mystery than others, but all clamoring for more.

O’Connor (who has been on a roll lately, appearing in no fewer than five films over the last two years, including Challengers and Wake Up Dead Man) takes on the role of Daniel, an ordinary man who begins to realize that non-human intelligence might already be living on Earth… and they may have been here for a very long time.

So how does he know this? A local Kansas City meteorologist (played by Blunt) has a strange episode on live TV where she appears to be speaking gibberish for a brief moment. To most people, it sounds like nonsense. But for Daniel, it’s a secret alien language that he somehow understands.

This discovery sends him on a cross-country journey to seek out the truth, hoping to “disclose” the evidence to the world. But as the government scrambles to contain the situation, the question becomes whether the fear of a global crisis will prevent the truth from coming to light. Which poses an even bigger question: is it ever a good time to learn you’ve been lied to?

While the film’s plot remains vague to say the least, the official synopsis offers only this intriguing tease:

“If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? This summer, the truth belongs to seven billion people. We are coming close to… Disclosure Day.”

It’s rare to see a synopsis built almost entirely around questions.

But if we had to guess, this is what might be going on… but then again, we’re only speculating, so be warned this is not official:

Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor may be playing brother and sister (?) … or two people extremely close, both stunned by a personal awakening that they might have somehow been altered (or even engineered at birth?) by non-human intelligence.
Colin Firth appears to represent the billionaire power broker who wants to know everything about this phenomenon, while also keeping it hidden from the public; believing it would throw the world order into total chaos. He also appears to have created powerful AI technology capable of hacking directly into people’s vision. Think Google Glass, but without the glasses and turned up to the 25th power.
Colman Domingo appears to play a charming conspiracy theorist who may have dedicated his entire life to uncovering this mystery. And now that it’s finally within his grasp, he refuses to let it slip away.
Eve Hewson’s role is particularly interesting, as this trailer seems to showcase her character far more than previous previews. Could she secretly be the film’s true lead? She plays O’Connor’s girlfriend, Jane, who accidentally gets pulled into the entire mystery, yet might have connections she didn’t even know about.

Now it would be a huge bummer if all this turns out to be AI intelligence run amok. But a shot of a UFO emerging from billowing clouds in the sky keeps us hoping Spielberg wants to take one more swing at the great cosmic mystery he’s been chasing his entire career.