Steven Spielberg has never been shy about his love for alien stories. But with Disclosure Day, he’s aiming at something much bigger than a sci-fi spectacle.
In a recent CBS News interview, Spielberg opened up about the thematic core of his new film, and it has nothing to do with invasion sequences or government cover-ups. It has to do with God.
What Steven Spielberg Says Disclosure Day Does to Faith
Speaking candidly, Spielberg said the film takes a very specific position. “The movie takes the position of the believers, or the curious, the ones that have been deeply affected by this,” he said. “And the movie also takes the position of the church.”
Then he asked the question the film is built around: “Is God our God only on this planet? Or is God a god for every system where there’s civilization and intelligent life, and even developing life?”
His verdict on what that question does to people? “That would mess up a lot of people.”
It’s a remarkably bold thing to center a summer blockbuster on. Disclosure Day is already one of the most anticipated films of 2026, but Spielberg isn’t selling it as a popcorn thriller. He’s selling it as a film that genuinely challenges the beliefs that give people meaning.
Screenwriter David Koepp echoed that intent in a separate interview with MovieMaker, confirming that “religion is an important part” of the story. Koepp, who wrote the screenplay based on Spielberg’s original idea, compared belief in aliens to belief in God, saying both ask you to accept something you cannot see or prove.
That framing gives Disclosure Day a philosophical weight that sets it apart from anything Spielberg has made in the alien space before. Close Encounters of the Third Kind was about wonder. War of the Worlds was about survival. This one, by the sound of it, is about what happens to your faith when the universe gets bigger overnight.
Disclosure Day, starring Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, and Colman Domingo, hits theaters on June 12, 2026.
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