Steven Spielberg is officially a believer. The 79-year-old director shared his thoughts on life beyond Earth during a keynote interview at the SXSW Film & TV Festival in Austin recently. While he admitted he doesn't have any more inside information than the rest of us, he revealed he has a very strong suspicion that humans are not actually alone on Earth right now, noting that he even made a movie about that very idea.
Spielberg is in good company, especially after Barack Obama recently went viral for discussing the existence of aliens. The legendary filmmaker joked that when he first heard the former president's comments, his first thought was how great the timing was for his new movie, 'Disclosure Day.'
Image Courtesy: Empire
Although the 64-year-old former president later clarified on Instagram that he was speaking more about the high statistical odds of life existing in such a vast universe, Steven Spielberg stands by the idea. He believes everyone should accept that life exists somewhere in the cosmos and that it's unlikely we are the only intelligent civilisation in the entire universe.
For him, the real mystery is whether they are here with us now, and if they have been visiting for the last 80 years or even the last few thousand years.
Steven Spielberg's Fascination with Aliens
The Oscar-winning director has been fascinated by the unexplained since he was a child. In a recent behind-the-scenes video for 'Disclosure Day,' he recalled looking up at the night sky as a kid with a sense of certainty that life off this planet wasn't just a possibility, but a guarantee. Despite directing classics like 'E.T.,' 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind,' and 'War of the Worlds,' Steven Spielberg joked that he's never actually had a close encounter of his own.
He questioned where the justice was in the fact that half of his friends have seen UFOs while he's still waiting for a sign.
Image Courtesy: The Hollywood Reporter
His latest project, 'Disclosure Day,' marks his big return to the UFO genre. The sci-fi film is based on his own original idea and written by David Koepp, who previously teamed up with Spielberg for 'Jurassic Park' and 'War of the Worlds.' The movie features a star-studded cast including Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, and Colin Firth. The story asks audiences if they would be frightened to find out the truth about being alone in the universe, promising that this summer, that truth will finally belong to everyone.
You can see 'Disclosure Day' in theatres starting 12th June, 2026.
