Steven Spielberg reveals childhood inspiration behind sci-fi thriller 'Disclosure Day': 'I developed a curiosity about what is happening in the stars'

Steven Spielberg is returning to the world of extraterrestrial mysteries with Disclosure Day, an ambitious new sci-fi thriller that the acclaimed filmmaker says took shape in his early childhood. Ahead of the film's release, Spielberg opened up about his early experience that sparked his curiosity about the unknown.“I remember one summer, my dad took me out to look at the annual Perseid meteor shower when we were living in New Jersey,” Spielberg recalled and went on to add, “Overnight, I developed a real curiosity about what is happening up there in the stars, on some planet orbiting in any number of countless solar systems, and if one of them might have a civilization that was advanced enough to travel the universe.”The Oscar-winning director also revealed that 'Disclosure Day' draws inspiration from long-standing theories and speculation surrounding unidentified aerial phenomena and alleged recovered extraterrestrial technology. He said, “If you go down the rabbit hole of UFO lore, you find all this speculation that various technological advances we have made as a civilisation owe their existence to technology that has been salvaged from crashed UAP craft and then reverse-engineered by humans. That is all speculative, but the idea has always been interesting to me. I had this idea that I thought would serve the story and enrich the themes of the story for a piece of tech that WARDEX has never been able to analyze.”Describing the scale of the project, Spielberg said he wanted the film to deliver a thrilling cinematic experience from start to finish while building toward a major revelation. “I certainly thought that this story needed to have a couple of jet engines strapped onto it and that it needed to take the audience on a ride that would blow their hair back,” Spielberg said. “I wanted that to begin from the very first frame and conclude in a 20-minute finale that would bring everyone to a united epiphany about what has been happening in the world, what has been kept from us and what we now know.”'Disclosure Day' marks the director's return to extraterrestrial science fiction nearly two decades after the release of 'War of the Worlds'. The project is already being positioned as one of the biggest original sci-fi films of 2026.The film follows the story of a Kansas City meteorologist and a young whistleblower who uncover proof of extraterrestrial contact, forcing them to choose between revealing the truth to the world or keeping it hidden forever. Blending Steven Spielberg’s signature wonder with gripping suspense, it explores humanity’s reaction to the unknown on an epic scale.The film boasts a star-studded cast led by Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson and Colman Domingo.