When it comes to the 2026 movie release schedule, we might not see a better alien movie after Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day, but there’s something somewhat ironic I noticed while watching the alien-centric tale. In the entire 145-minute runtime, the word “alien” itself is never uttered by a single character. So, I had to ask the screenwriter about it.

During CinemaBlend’s interview with David Koepp, he confirmed with me that my observation about the word alien in Disclosure Day was very astute, and responded with:

I thought I might be on to something! Disclosure Day takes place in the modern-day United States in a very grounded context, and it sounds like the screenwriter wanted it to feel like the movie itself was taking the implications of life outside of Earth earnestly, and one reason they felt like they could was by not using the word “alien.”

Then, there’s the fact that the word “alien” has become a politically controversial word in the past few decades in references to U.S. immigrants. It makes sense why Koepp and Steven Spielberg might have wanted to distance themselves from the politics of the word “alien” and instead use other words to describe life beyond the species on our planet. I know, I definitely felt that it grounded the film.

Disclosure Day came from an idea Steven Spielberg had when following what was happening in 2023 around whistleblower David Grusch, who advocated for government transparency on UFOs after his experience as an intelligence officer for the U.S. Air Force. Grusch also deliberately chose not to use the word “alien” (or even “extraterrestrial”) when talking about his own claims in order to frame things away from sounding so science fiction.

Before Spielberg knew it, he had a 52-page treatment, whom he decided to send over to the screenwriter behind Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Koepp told us he was blown away by Spielberg’s ideas, and immediately thought it would work because the Disclosure Day ending already did straight away. Spielberg and Koepp’s collaboration ended up being an intense one that took 42 drafts to get right before production got started with the likes of Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colin Firth and Colman Domingo.

But it sounds like it’s worth it, given the high praise the movie has received before debuting at No. 1 at the box office a couple of weeks ago. It definitely feels like a carefully written script and the "alien" detail does make a difference. You can check out Disclosure Day for yourself in theaters now!

Few celebrations of Steven Spielberg's career are complete without bringing up the Indiana Jones franchise, as the initial trilogy of action-adventure classics have inspired generations. Everyone has a favorite film, and moments they either love or dislike, including the actors who starred in the movies. Harrison Ford recently dished about the Indiana Jones scene that Sean Connery not only disliked, but that made him a ‘little grumpy.’

When Ford sat down to discuss Spielberg’s works with Vulture, the topic obviously came around to all of the Indiana Jones movies. Connery played Ford's father in the third film, The Last Crusade, so when that movie came up, the actor happily shared some BTS scoop, saying:

This world has remained popular, with an additional two films, such as the nostalgic Dial of Destiny. But it all started when Spielberg told his good friend George Lucas about his dream project: a James Bond film with Sean Connery. The iconic actor passed away in 2020, and was well-known for his portrayal of Bond, James Bond.

While Lucas couldn’t make that particular dream come true, he did have an idea for an archeologist that was set in the 1930s. Initially, the studio didn’t want to deal with Spielberg who had a reputation for going over budget. But they relented, and it was right choice. I couldn’t imagine the franchise having gone into anyone else’s hands. He directed the first four films in the franchise, each of which can be watched can be watched with a Disney+ subscription.

And Spielberg did - sort of - live out his dream with the third film, The Last Crusade. The father-son relationship was created after screenwriter Menno Meyjes pitched the idea of the holy grail to Lucas. The scribe shared:

No conversation about Indiana Jones can happen without bringing up The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which received mixed feelings from critics and fans. Several weren’t sure about the concept of Indie with ‘aliens.’ Though the film had a dimension bent on this that was a little different. However, many still enjoyed it and have defended the film, saying there aren’t any bad Indiana Jones films.

Even Ford reportedly struggled during The Last Crusade, as he and Spielberg weren’t fully on board with doing another sci-fi movie. However, without the fourth, fans wouldn’t have gotten a fifth, which gave Ford the ending he wanted. He didn’t want Crystal Skull to be the last of Indie’s adventures.

While the marketing of the fifth presented as the ending, we also thought Indiana Jones was going to be a trilogy. If the franchise ever did return, I'd immediately sign up if Ke Huy Quan were to return. The actor has recently gone full Short Round by taking the 'character' to the Disneyland ride.

This gave us a minor taste of what Indiana Jones would be like if we saw Indie’s former protege putting on his hat. And I am fully obsessed with the idea. But is there any real chance we'll see the franchise return?

Despite the appearance of glowing Disclosure Day reviews, I knew immediately the new Steven Spielberg film was going to be one that sparked a lot of different reactions. I know this because in my own party of four, thoughts were mixed, and that was true of the entire crowd in the theater. Still, one thing I thought was absolutely universal was the humor in the 2026 movie release, including one scene that had me literally laughing out loud. Turns out, not everyone is nearly as enamored as I was.

Emily Blunt And Wyatt Russell Got Hammy In That Cell Phone Scene

Early in Disclosure Day, Emily Blunt’s Margaret and her boyfriend Jackson make an escape from the hospital as she starts to realize there are some people looking to detain her. As part of this, she’s told to ditch her cell phone, but as we know, these days cells phones are quite indestructible.

What follows is like 90 second of utter hijinks. Margaret makes Jackson ditch his phone and then back over it; however, he’s bad at driving and fails pretty spectacularly. They go at it again and it's even more ridiculous. Eventually, they manage to crush the phone, but it takes significantly more effort than you’d assume. I found this scene very funny; other people on the Internet did not.

Not Everyone Loved Disclosure Day’s Comedy

Critic Scott Menzel took to X (Twitter) to call the flick one of “the strangest” he’s seen in a while, and he particularly hated the cell phone scene in question.

It’s not just Menzel, either. A lot of people in the same thread on X called out the cell phone scene as being the moment they felt was most cringe in the whole movie.

• I couldn’t believe what I was watching. Almost left 5 times and bolted out the door as soon as the last line was uttered. Re: phone - Spielberg cut out a scene on the same ridiculous wavelength in Raiders.
• Spielberg's boomer nature was starting to become apparent in Ready Player One. He absolutely doesn't understand how the internet or video games work, and it made the movie pretty silly.
• Yes the cell phone out the car, and especially the minute after where they’re trying to get the car to move back and forth to crush it - not sure why that was in the Final Cut.

Not to mention one fan could not get over how the movie just does not get how cell phones work in general. They wrote:

We know from Disclosure Day’s box office run the movie had a hot first week and then fell quite a bit whilst competing with Toy Story 5 in Week 2. I’m not remotely surprised given the reception I’d encountered, but I personally thought the thing that would be garnering the most discourse would be the weird CGI animals that were all over the film and the Disclosure Day trailer leading up to its release.

As it turns out, people are just real mad about the cell phones.

Disclosure Day’s box office debut last weekend started Steven Spielberg's latest on a winning note, but it has since become one of the more polarizing releases to be on the 2026 movie schedule. It feels like those who went to see it either were getting chills over its third act or asking themselves if anything actually happened in the movie. While I fall in the camp of someone who really enjoyed it, I want to talk about why it made me think about Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull lately.

The 2008 sequel is famously criticized for not being as good as the other movies in the franchise, but honestly, I don’t think it’s as bad as everyone thinks it is – it’s just not as great as the original trilogy. Anyways, the ending of Disclosure Day particularly has me thinking about Indiana Jones 4. Let’s get into it.

Remember The Alien Scene In Indiana Jones 4?

While Spielberg, Harrison Ford and screenwriter David Koepp reportedly were never fully on board with aliens being in the movie, Indiana Jones 4 very much has them like Disclosure Day. Aside from them both being directed by Spielberg from a script by Koepp, and involving aliens, there's more to it.

At their bare bones, the two films revolve around a piece of alien evidence that one group has and another group very much would like to have instead. In Indiana Jones 4, it’s Indy vs. the Soviets led by a particularly goofy Cate Blanchett performance. But what you may not remember is that the Crystal Skull involves a telepathic element that leads the humans of the story to connect with the aliens in the story. Sounding familiar yet?

Ultimately, both groups end up at a temple where they return the Crystal Skull to a skeleton inside, triggering aliens from another dimension to appear. The extraterrestrial ends up transferring way too much knowledge to Blanchett’s Soviet agent character, effectively overloading her brain and killing her. Indy and his crew quickly escape the temple, and a flying saucer rises from the ruins and returns to the otherworldly place they came from.

Disclosure Day's Finale Reminds Me Of It, But Better

This brings me to Disclosure Day. Both movies play with the idea of aliens, but whereas Indiana Jones 4 does so with a more basic “good vs. evil” plotline about tech from another world potentially falling into the wrong hands, Spielberg's new movie is weighing something else. What if our present-day world had definite proof of the existence of aliens and the world got to discover it together? Both movies only really take us to the discovery stage of extraterrestrial life, and stop there. But where I felt empty with Indiana Jones, I felt fed with Disclosure Day.

There's an added thought-provoking element that had me imagining how our world would change should everyone at the same time get the kind of moment usually only reserved for larger-than-life heroes like Indiana Jones. It had me thinking about humanity and the ways in which we have the great power to both come together and tear things apart. I didn’t need more from Disclosure Day, because it gave me enough to ponder about ourselves, whereas I feel like in The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull I would have been a lot more satisfied if Indy got to talk to an alien for a bit, ya know?

Ultimately, it feels like the same filmmakers unintentionally played with a very similar concept, just 18 years apart, and found a way to ultimately explore it better through Disclosure Day. As someone who liked Spielberg's latest movie, I'm more grateful for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull now that I've made these connections.

Since E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is one of the best sci-fi movies ever made, I’d think just about every question about it would have already been answered by Steven Spielberg. But I was clearly wrong about one of the most iconic '80s movies! Someone just asked the filmmaker something about the alien I've wondered about, and I’m so happy they did.

The filmmaker has been promoting his new alien project, Disclosure Day, which recently came out on the 2026 movie schedule, and, of course, many of his classic films are coming up in interviews. In a chat with The New York Times, here’s what happened when Spielberg was asked bluntly if the beloved alien ET was “slimy or dry”:

I’m so happy I’m not the only person who thought about this during my many rewatches of E.T. over the years. The young alien is very believable when you’re watching the movie, and I’ve been curious before about how he might feel to the touch. Thankfully, he’s not slimy (because ew, gross). As Steven Spielberg also added:

While E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial did actually start as a killer alien horror movie, ultimately it became a wondrous sci-fi adventure starring kids. He might not have been as favored by them if he looked all slimy. That being said, E.T. is a “little moist”, according to the movie’s director. And he’s only completely dry in that heart-wrenching scene when he’s being held by government agents and looks incredibly sick and pale.

E.T. was brought to life on set thanks to special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi, who designed a highly advanced animatronic puppet for the movie. In addition, some scenes featured people in suits, especially when E.T. moves around, whereas the close-ups greatly involved the animatronic. The life-like alien character was reportedly so convincing that 7-year-old Drew Barrymore really thought E.T. was real.

While we might have learned more about E.T. if there was ever a sequel, I still appreciate that it's a standalone movie where we have room as an audience to wonder about things like this.

In another recent interview, Steven Spielberg did answer a couple of other questions I’ve long had about my favorite movie. He said that E.T. had to leave so that Elliott could grow up like a regular kid, before also confirming that Elliott never did see him again after he went home.

I've had these thoughts about E.T. forever! Of course, now I want to watch E.T. yet again, after learning this tidbit about him.

Be warned, as major spoilers for Disclosure Day lie ahead.

Steven Spielberg returns to his alien roots by way of his latest film, Disclosure Day, and it’s another sweet endeavor from the maestro of movies. This thrilling and tender piece of work not only poses the question of what would happen when humanity learns of the existence of otherworldly beings but also ponders themes like empathy and shared trauma. In addition to all that, Spielberg utilizes journalism within the narrative and, while it might seem simple or idealistic to some, I really appreciate how news comes into play here.

Why I Appreciate Steven Spielberg’s Use Of Journalism In Disclosure Day

One of this 2026 movie schedule entry’s key characters is Margaret Fairchild, a weatherperson and aspiring news anchor played by Emily Blunt. Margaret serves as the main conduit through which TV news permeates the story. That all begins in earnest when the journalist begins speaking the alien’s language while on the air. Said moment comes full circle at the end of the film, at which point Margaret anchors the news at her Kansas City-based station and helps reveal the existence of extraterrestrials to the world.

The way in which Spielberg attempts to depict the power of journalism is quite straightforward but, as someone who grew up wanting to be in the business (and even become a reporter), I couldn’t help but be drawn in. Spielberg drives home the viability of TV news by having KCXE break the news during a broadcast and, what’s more, they even share the news with another station so that it goes national and eventually worldwide.

Watching the characters be enthralled with the footage Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) uploads as part of “Disclosure Day” is so satisfying. From those in the TV station to those in a massive control room to those standing in streets and watching on their phones, the whole world takes notice. And the Jaws director would probably be happy to know my eyes were glued to the IMAX screen I was watching, and that was really the case when Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo) and the other whistleblowers brought one of the aliens into the studio.

Now, I’m not going to sit here and act like Spielberg isn’t romanticizing journalism, as the media landscape and news distribution is not so clean cut today. Some social media users are (understandably) scoffing at the notion of so many people tuning in for the news. Yet, if anything, what the filmmaker does is convey the spirit of what journalism should be and how it should ideally help inform the public. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find that admirable.

It Makes Sense That Steven Spielberg Would Use Journalism Like This

Disclosure Day has received mostly positive reviews from critics and general audiences, and I think that’s partially due to its director's signature, light touch. For some time now, Spielberg has been called a sentimental filmmaker, and that’s not necessarily a bad quality. The sheer level of affection he has for the subject matter in his films is admirable, and it’s a big reason why people still love The Color Purple or continue to ask questions about E.T.

So it makes sense that Spielberg would look at journalism through somewhat rose-colored glasses, but the man does arguably appreciate the profession. That should already be clear, considering this is the same man behind The Post, which is one of the best films about journalists. His latest alien movie definitely doesn’t reach the heights of Broadcast News or Spotlight from a journalistic standpoint. Nevertheless, I won’t chastise the man for embedding the news within a film about extraordinary circumstances.

Check out Disclosure Day, which is playing in theaters nationwide now. Also, check out other Steven Spielberg movies, as they can be bought or rented on digital platforms.

Disclosure Day is one of the 2026 movie releases that I’ve had my eye on ever since I learned it was Steven Spielberg’s first alien movie in 20 years. Did you know that the script also took a wild amount of drafts to get right? I was so curious about this fun fact, and the screenwriter told me about one character that probably held up filming the most.

How The Lengthy Disclosure Day Script Process Started

Steven Spielberg started jotting his ideas for Disclosure Day down in the summer of 2023 on the Notes app of his iPad. The story that allows him to continue to explore his lifelong fascination with extraterrestrials quickly turned into a 52-page treatment that he then sent to David Koepp, whom he’s worked with before on Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. In CinemaBlend’s interview with Koepp, the screenwriter recalled his first thoughts to the email with these words:

While many of Spielberg’s films have come from his own story ideas before becoming some of the best sci-fi movies ever made, he’s only personally written the scripts for a handful of movies over the years: Firelight, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Poltergeist, A.I. Artificial Intelligence and The Fabelmans. Here’s how Koepp became Disclosure Day’s screenwriter, per our chat:

When describing his collaboration with Spielberg, which have led to these iconic lightning-in-a-bottle movies before, David Koepp told me the filmmaker is “demanding”, but always “encouraging.” And in the instance of this particular collaboration, it took 42 drafts to get the script right before the movie was shot. But why?

What Caused The Most Back And Forth

It turns out there was a particular character in Disclosure Day that Koepp and Spielberg just couldn’t stop fine-tuning throughout the writing process. As Koepp shared:

I think this answer makes so much sense, because her character is one of the strongest parts of the film. That's not only from my perspective – it has been called out a bunch in Disclosure Day reviews. Blunt is the MVP of the film, but part of that needed to come through in the written final draft.

I also have to wonder if knowing people would perk up like I did over a new sci-fi movie from Spielberg meant they didn’t want to disappoint fans of with a subpar followup? He has a reputation to uphold! But 42 drafts? I mean, wow, that's a lot of tries to get Blunt's character just so.

You can decide for yourself how Disclosure Day stacks up to your favorite sci-fi movies by catching it in theaters now.

When I walked out of my screening of Disclosure Day with my husband, sister and brother-in-law, there were two main things we wanted to talk about. First, did Disclosure Day’s ending stick the landing? Secondly, how did we feel about the CGI animals? Personally, I felt they had an uncanny valley feel that put me off in the moments they appeared onscreen, but the Internet is a lot more defensive of the animated creatures than I would have guessed.

Note: Some minor spoilers for Disclosure Day can be found in this article!

A lot of people went to see Steven Spielberg’s latest summer adventure when it hit the 2026 movie release schedule this weekend, and it ended up making nearly $93 million at the box office globally, and $44 million domestically. Which subsequently means people had a lot of thoughts about the CGI animals that were prominent in the Disclosure Day trailer and the other marketing leading up to the film’s release.

What I was a little surprised about was the number of social media users who thought the animals worked. Not as a concept, but as the exact type of creatures aliens would turn themselves into if they were trying to entrance kids into submitting to a medical experiment. It's honestly an interesting take, and one I hadn't considered.

• Zach Leslie: “I totally get this, but Disclosure Day is the only time I give the CG animals a pass. Feels like something trying to present as an animal, which is what is happening in the story, so it works for me.”
• Gaz: “I will also add that they were never meant to be real animals, they are what's known as ‘screen projections’ that aliens do and any experiencer will know there is always something ‘off’ about them. That was genius on Spielberg's part.”
• Kingly: “If this is about Disclosure Day I also think it's rather compelling that these are literally not animals and are effects to disguise themselves.”
• Gentleman Doofus: “Another note on DISCLOSURE DAY. It’s very satisfying the way that, like THE IRISHMAN, limitations in effects—specifically the CGI animals and the chintzy Thomas Kinkade house—can be completely justified by the larger text of the film."

Of course, some people are calling out the deer and the fox and the other CGI animals peppered throughout the movie as “uncomfortable” or even “dreadful.” Now that I’m looking at them through the lens of the aliens trying to be as cute as possible and not as realistic as possible, I guess I'm a little less freaked out. A little.

There is one exception: That one scene where all the deer are standing outside the window of the old farmhouse making eye contact with Emily Blunt’s character. I’m pretty sure in that case, those creatures were meant to be real deer and not deer in disguise. I get why Spielberg couldn’t hire deer and train them all to stare at Emily Blunt, which lends more credence to the use of animation for the animals. It's a point in the film where this take from a lot of movie viewers just doesn’t full wash for me.

I’m not sure Disclosure Day will end up on the list of the best science fiction films of all time, but I do appreciate all of the spirited discourse on the movie so far. CinemaBlend’s own Kelly Bambrick loved it, and you can read her full take on why the latest Spielberg film works.

While Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day offers up plenty of action and sci-fi thrills it also features an excellent cast. Spielberg has once again crafted a film with care imbued it with his keen sensibilities as a filmmaker. There’s a lot to take in from this 2026 movie schedule entry, from its spectacle to the wonderful performances. Something I didn’t notice, however, was the cameo from a member of NBC’s Today Show family. And, now, that person is opening up about how they landed their role in this Universal flick.

This particular cameo doesn’t belong to an on-air personality like Al Roker or Craig Melvin, but someone who plays an integral role behind the scenes of the nationally syndicated morning show. David Auerbach, a stage manager at Today, appears in Disclosure Day, playing the role of a control room member. Known affectionately as “Davey” by his co-workers, Auerbach recently spoke about his experience working with Spielberg, and it sounds like he’s going to treasure that opportunity for quite some time:

Auerbach appears near the end of the film and plays a member of an NBC control room. Those who’ve seen Disclosure Day surely know the ending is chilling and, even if I’d been familiar with Auerbach or not, I admittedly may not have spotted him. Believe it or not, though, this isn’t Auerbach’s first rodeo, as he’s been acting for decades and notably landed roles in the ‘90s film Gravesend as well as sitcom Man of the Family along with stage productions and TV commercials. Auerbach’s acting career eventually went on hold as he rose within the ranks with NBC, a company he’s been with since 1984.

However, in 2025, Auerbach decided to get back in the saddle, so to speak, after receiving a boost from Today host Sheinelle Jones. And, as fate would have it, his very first audition since returning to the craft was to play a news producer in a Spielberg film, and the rest is movie history. (This also makes for a sweet brand synergy for NBCUniversal.) Auerbach recalled the moment he learned he’d booked his role, and it sounds so sweet:

Despite any “terror” he might’ve felt at the time, Auerbach said the two-day shoot proved to be fruitful and memorable. He called the experience “intense” but said that Spielberg would keep the vibe chill in between takes. While recalling his experience with the iconic director, Auerbach referred to him as a “nice, really warm guy” and he also recalled the famed director joking with everyone in between takes. I’d expect nothing less from the man who even has a sense of humor about not landing James Bond.

When it comes to Auerbach, though, he’s now immortalized within the history of film, and his colleagues seem excited for him. Craig Melvin recently talked him up during an event for the Spielberg-helmed movie, and you can check it out below:

The well-reviewed Disclosure Day is a chase movie that sees a young man (Josh O’Connor) seek to reveal information to the world that could change life as humanity knows it. It marks Spielberg’s fourth UFO-related movie, and it hits some truly sweet notes. Now, after hearing about David Auerbach’s experience, though, I think I have yet another reason to appreciate the movie. So head out to your local theater to check out this latest Spielberg movie and see Auerbach’s contribution to it.

Major spoilers for Disclosure Day lie ahead!

What would happen if there was definitive proof of the existence of alien life from the government and it could be shown to the world? That’s the topic at the heart of Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day. This recent 2026 movie release offers action, thrills, humor and heart as one would expect from a Spielberg film. However, it's also incredibly thoughtful and that vibe persists up through the final frame. With that, CinemaBlend recently spoke to screenwriter David Koepp about the final word that's uttered in the film.

During CinemaBlend's chat with Disclosure Day screenwriter David Koepp, who also previously wrote other famous movies like Jurassic Park, Spider-Man and Mission: Impossible, I had to ask him about the movies's last word: “Listen,” which is uttered by Emily Blunt's Margaret Fairchild. Koepp provided a thoughtful answer:

During the spine-chilling ending of Disclosure Day, Margaret and Josh O’Connor’s Daniel Kellner are able to make it to the KCTV station to make the film's titular event happen after a couple of hours of nail-biting thrills. Margaret gets to anchor for the first time to break the news, while Daniel leaks the life-threatening bag of government files he's been risking his life for.

After humankind witnesses a montage of jaw-dropping footage of evidence that the government has been recording extraterrestrial life from across history, one of these aliens appears in the newsroom as well to deliver a message through Margaret. We never hear the message itself as the movie ends on the word: “Listen”.

While some might see the credits unfold and say “That’s it?”, as Koepp shared, we don't need to as the word itself encapsulates the entire message of the movie. Disclosure Day is about showing empathy for others, and the biggest rule of grasping the feelings of others is to in fact listen to them. As the screenwriter continued:

Koepp was also inspired by the sci-fi masterpiece, Slaughterhouse Five, specifically at the start of Chapter 2. The novel from Kurt Vonnegut also features aliens called the Tralfamadorians, who experience all of time simultaneously. So it’s both a nod to one of the great classics of the genre and a clever way to deliver the message of the movie.

While he could have certainly thought up some message from the aliens, I appreciate David Koepp explaining the reasoning for the conclusion. The critically-acclaimed Disclosure Day certainly gets me thinking about how the world would really react if the moment indisputable evidence of alien life was shown to the world really happened. At the same time, it explores how human empathy and connection is one of our greatest strengths as a species, and the final word underlines that point beautifully.

Steven Spielberg made some of the best movies of the 1990s. With beloved films like Hook and Saving Private Ryan, the Academy Award winner knows how to make memorable movies that audiences are still talking about. If you recall, Spielberg also defined 1993 with big movies like Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List. Now, we've learned about a cool story regarding how the dinosaur flick was a blessing to the director while he was making his historical drama.

Imagine wrapping up a fun dinosaur movie like Jurassic Park, only to head into one of the most devastating times in history for Schindler’s List. Well, in Vulture’s Oral History of Steven Spielberg flicks, Amblin Entertainment co-founder Kathleen Kennedy, cinematographer Janusz Kamiński, and screenwriter/director David Koepp spoke about what made Jurassic Park such a “blessing” for Spielberg while filming Schindler’s List:

• Kennedy: It’s the only time I’ve ever seen this happen with Steven: I ended up having to take over the postproduction on Jurassic almost entirely because he was so immersed in Schindler. He couldn’t compartmentalize the way he had before.
• Kamiński: We were doing Schindler’s List, and he was having satellite transmission to look at the Jurassic effects, which was totally surreal.
• Koepp: He said that it was kind of a blessing sometimes, in that he’d had these incredibly intense days on set and then he’d come home and look at effect shots for several hours of dinosaurs running around. It was actually a great place to park his mind for a while.

I can imagine what a “blessing” it must have been to take a break from the Holocaust-centered epic with effects shots of the prehistoric dinosaurs. While it feels like it could also cause whiplash, working on a fun dinosaur movie had to be a welcome distraction from such a heavy war film.

Even though Steven Spielberg was a pro at tackling those two different cinematic worlds in 1993, he admitted in 2019 that he actually hated working on Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List simultaneously. I can’t blame him, considering the Indiana Jones director had to switch from the emotional hurdles of his movie about Oskar Schindler to focusing on dinosaurs running rampant, which felt like a “burden” to him.

However, Spielberg clearly found a way to tackle two cinematic worlds, with both films having a massive yet different impact on cinema.

Jurassic Park revolutionized visual effects with its computer-generated imagery and inspired six other movies to expand the franchise. Schindler’s List thoughtfully portrayed the horrors the Nazis inflicted on Jews in German-occupied Kraków and was one of the greatest movies to win Best Picture at the Oscars.

Ultimately, the Jaws director proved that going back to his CGI dinosaurs was a great way to balance emotional storytelling with groundbreaking entertainment that helped shape cinema.

As challenging as it was for Steven Spielberg to move between Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List, it eventually showed he was more than capable of pivoting from blockbuster spectacle to devastating historical drama without reducing the impact of the two films.

Feel free to dive into both worlds yourself by streaming Schindler’s List with a Netflix subscription and Jurassic Park with a Peacock subscription. You also gotta tune in for Steven Spielberg’s 2026 movie release of Disclosure Day in theaters now.

Not only is E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial one of the best sci-fi movies ever made but, in recent years, I've also come to the conclusion that it’s my favorite film ever. It delivers everything I want out of the medium, and I always cry when the emotional ending plays out. Director Steven Spielberg has just made another alien movie called Disclosure Day and, while promoting it, the filmmaker recently discussed his 1982 film. And, in the process, he answered a couple of questions I’ve long had about the beloved first-contact movie.

Why Did E.T. Have To Leave?

Logically, I know E.T. needs to leave Earth in order to return to his planet. However, because the conclusion is so heartbreaking, of course, I’ve also wondered why he had to go and couldn't stay with his good friend, Elliott regardless. Here’s what the filmmaker had to say:

Spielberg answered this question posed by the Happy Sad Confused podcast with a real matter-of-factness. Given his insightfulness, I can only guess he’s been asked this question for the past 44 years, but I do love how he handles it. Also, the Oscar winner really is speaking to the root of why E.T.’s finale really punctures our hearts and souls. All in all, the titular alien is a miracle of sorts that comes and goes in a very regular family’s life. The Taylor family gets to have a fantastical (and sometimes scary adventure) but, ultimately, life has to move on for Elliott as well as his siblings and mother.

Did Elliott Ever See E.T. Again?

Another question that undeniably pops in my head whenever I watch E.T. is regarding whether the alien ever visits Earth and his friend again. Here’s the answer, per Spielberg:

I had a feeling that might be the case, but one can hope! This is probably why an E.T. sequel never happened, and how can anyone top it anyways? However, I am interested in the extent of the main two characters' psychological link after hearing this answer. I mean, were E.T. and Elliott still able to communicate emotions to each other across galaxies somehow? I don't think we'll ever really know, but I can't imagine the pair ever forgetting each other.

What I love about these answers from Spielberg is it feels like the movie itself sort of already communicated these things to me without much dialogue. I’d regard E.T. as one of those rare perfect movies because of its ability to convey emotion through the actors' performances and the craft of the film itself. And I didn't really need more than the content it already gave me.

E.T. may always be a standalone movie, but I love that Steven Spielberg still has a fascination with alien life over the years and decided to explore it through four other movies including his entry on the 2026 movie schedule. On that note, check out Disclosure Day in theaters now.

Spoilers from Disclosure Day ahead! If you haven't seen the movie yet, it just arrived on the 2026 movie schedule.

Disclosure Day is more than two hours long – nearly two and a half hours, in fact -- and I'm not going to lie, I did look at my watch a few times during the movie. It wasn't that I wasn't thrilled by the action or intrigued by the layers of the plot. Steven Spielberg's new film has everything we could hope for from one of the iconic director's alien movies — great characters, exciting moments, an impactful score and a meaningful plot. I was undoubtedly entertained, and yet, I was also waiting. By the time the climax hit, and I felt tears in my eyes and goosebumps on my arms, I felt like I was being rewarded for my patience.

This Movie Requires Patience

I'm still processing my thoughts about Disclosure Day -- I just caught a screening of it on Thursday night -- but I can say with certainty that the ending left me emotional and a bit shaken. I went into it knowing that this was not so much a movie about aliens, as it was a story about exposing the truth about aliens -- the marketing was clear enough about that. Still, as the story got going, it felt like we were being given breadcrumbs of information about what was happening -- what was being hidden, the information in the stolen drives, the strange hand-held device being used to "dive" into people.

Every time I felt like we were getting close to an answer, some twist or turn took us in a new direction. And I admit, the thought "I really hope the ending is worth this build-up" crossed my mind more than once.

Was it worth it? Yes, honestly. Let's talk about that ending. The question of whether or not it's for the best that mankind knows we're not alone in the universe, and that alien beings have literally been on this planet for decades or longer, is posed throughout the film, from various characters.

The Set Up For The Ending

• Jane (Eve Hewson) fears what the knowledge might do to people's ability to believe in a higher power.
• Noah (Colin Firth) wants to keep the information within his control, and the confines of his business, while his former colleague, Hugo (Colman Domingo), is determined to bring the truth to light.
• Margaret (Emily Blunt), with her new empathic abilities, and Daniel (Josh O'Connor), with his not-so-new mathematical ability to understand the alien's language, are seeking their own personal truths, while serving as the vessels creating the necessary connection between the aliens and mankind.
• Jackson (Wyatt Russell) just wants to stay in Kansas City and play songs with his band.

By the time everyone (minus Jackson) makes it to the news station, any doubt I might've had that it's for the best for mankind to know the truth is gone. It's clear throughout the film that the world is not in a good place, and humanity is already on the brink of implosion. Jane has come around to putting her faith in mankind and delivers Margaret the device to get the lights turned back on so she can resume the broadcast.

And it's here that the ending really happens. Spielberg has made us wait, and it feels like we've earned our way to this point in the movie -- but we're not quite there yet.

The Payoff

I don't know that I thought about it as it was playing out, but looking back, had the big reveal focused entirely on Margaret telling viewers everything and showing the footage, I think it might've been less impactful. After Margaret gets the story rolling, the TV station reaches out to their affiliate in New York. We also see the decision to push the feed out to everyone -- not just NBC affiliates, but everyone. Watching this process play out gives us a chance to reset our perspective and see the hugeness of what's going on, beyond what Margaret and Daniel have been through.

Our attention is shifted to a major news anchor who's trying to process the footage Daniel has uploaded and is streaming through the feed as she’s seeing it for the first time with everyone else. This part feels very important to the emotional punch. Up until now, we've been following Margaret through this whole story. Her and Daniel's perspectives have been integral, as has their journey toward the truth from their childhood experiences. They’ve reached their resolution by this point, now it’s our turn.

By switching the perspective to this new news anchor, we're watching what feels like a truly genuine reaction from someone who is just learning this information. All of her emotions are coming through -- her voice, her facial expressions, her eyes -- as she's trying to navigate what's being shown and also make space in her own mind for this new reality, all the while also trying to relay information to viewers.

This is what Disclosure Day was all about, and it feels real. The disclosure scene gave me chills, and at the same time, had me welling up with emotion. Maybe a part of that is because I've experienced this before -- the feeling of the world changing right under my feet in real-time -- and know how big what's happening would be if it were real. We see people paused everywhere, watching the footage of the aliens and seeing bits of what's been done to them. All I could think was that the words coming out of this woman's report would echo in their memories for years to come.

It Was Always About The Truth

Spielberg captures the intense historic significance in a way that's both grand and simple. In the end, the truth coming out was always what Disclosure Day was about. The movie takes its time to get there, but I think one of the lessons is that truth takes patience, determination and perseverance. It also takes faith, if not in a higher power, then in humanity. As a cynical person, I need to chew on Jane's part of this story some more, because I think what she went through might have hit the hardest for me.

The movie leaves us with a big cliffhanger. After the footage is revealed to the world, the living being Hugo helped escape years ago arrives at the Kansas City news station and speaks words into Daniel's ear, which he relays to Margaret. The only thing we get before the screen cuts to black is Margaret saying "Listen" into the camera. Is there more to say? I'm assuming so, but whatever the alien has to share with mankind isn't for this story. What happens next is for us to consider and imagine if we want, but the story Disclosure Day meant to tell is finished. What matters here is the truth being known. The world will now have to reckon with the information they've been given and the things they've been shown.

I don't have a personal star rating locked in for this movie, and I can see why some people love it and why it might not be for everyone (critics or audiences). I do know that I definitely want to see it again, because I think there's more that I didn't catch or haven't quite put together yet. I'm still pondering over Noah's choice at the end, and want to revisit the conversation that he had with Hugo to better understand where both of their characters are coming from. In the meantime, my biggest takeaway from this movie was that this was a film that required patience, but it packs an emotional punch that left me with chills. I'll be thinking about this one for a while.

Tom Cruise has spent enough time flying jets, sprinting across rooftops and saving the movie theater experience one death-defying stunt at a time that his endorsement of a 2026 movie calendar release carries some extra weight. So when he shows up for a packed summer screening and posts about loving the experience, it feels like the cinematic equivalent of a flare going up. Seriously, the Mission: Impossible star just hyped up Disclosure Day with the sweetest message to Steven Spielberg and his ‘dear friend’ Emily Blunt.

Cruise shared an Instagram post celebrating Disclosure Day, Steven Spielberg’s big new summer science fiction movie starring Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colin Firth and Colman Domingo. The post included a photo of him with Dakota Fanning, Colin Farrell and a Spielberg bust in front of a theater screen promoting the film. There’s a lot of greatness packed into this photo, so see for yourself before we break it down.

The caption is obviously the biggest takeaway. The Mummy alum praised Spielberg, his Minority Report and War of the Worlds director, writing:

And, of course, the Top Gun franchise lead couldn’t forget about his Edge of Tomorrow co-star and friend, Emily Blunt. He continued:

That is a very sweet response and is also very Tom Cruise. The man does not casually enjoy a movie. He celebrates cinema with the intensity of someone trying to personally keep every projector bulb in America alive. And honestly, when the movie in question is a new Spielberg alien epic, that enthusiasm tracks.

Tom Cruise And Steven Spielberg Go Way Back

Cruise and Spielberg worked together on Minority Report and War of the Worlds, two very different but great sci-fi movies that still feel like major pieces of both men’s filmographies. Minority Report also co-starred Colin Farrell, who appears to the Jack Reacher actor's right in the Instagram photo, while War of the Worlds starred Dakota Fanning appears to his left. One gave Cruise one of his slickest futuristic thrillers; the other put him in full panic-dad mode inside Spielberg’s post-9/11 alien invasion nightmare.

There is something nicely full-circle about the Minority Report helmer hyping a new Spielberg alien movie. The director has returned to extraterrestrial stories throughout his career, from Close Encounters of the Third Kind to E.T. to War of the Worlds. Disclosure Day seems to be playing in that same massive “what if humanity actually knew?” sandbox, which makes Cruise’s theater-night post feel especially fitting.

His Emily Blunt Shoutout Was Also A Reunion

Cruise also made sure to shout out Emily Blunt, calling her his “dear friend” and saying she and the rest of the artists behind the movie were “superb.” For fans of Edge of Tomorrow, that is a delightful little reunion crumb.

Cruise and Blunt starred together in the 2014 sci-fi action favorite, and their chemistry remains one of the reasons people still keep asking about a sequel. Cruise’s character may have spent most of that movie getting repeatedly wrecked by aliens and time loops, but Blunt’s Rita Vrataski was the steel spine of the whole thing. Seeing him show up for her new sci-fi movie more than a decade later is a genuinely warm little industry moment.

Disclosure Day Is Getting The Big Movie Night Treatment

What stands out most about the mega star's post is how much he framed the experience around the theater itself. He did not just say he liked the movie. He called out the packed room, the friends and the summer Spielberg movie-night feeling.

That is basically catnip for anyone who still loves the old-school event-movie ritual. Cruise has made the mission of promoting the theater-going experience a huge part of his public persona in recent years, especially as theatrical releases keep fighting for oxygen in a streaming-heavy world. So yes, his Disclosure Day post is a sweet message to Spielberg and Blunt. But it is also another little love letter to going to the movies.

Disclosure Day arrived in theaters today, June 12. Check your local listings for showtimes.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has always been the weird artifact in the Indy franchise museum. It was not a critical disaster when it opened in 2008, and it made real money. But for a lot of fans, the movie became the entry point they cite when they talk about the franchise losing the magic that made Raiders of the Lost Ark, and its wonderful sequels, Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade, feel so alive. And, according to a new oral history, Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg were never fully on board with the planned project.

Ahead of his 2026 movie release, Disclosure Day, Vulture dropped a massive oral history of Steven Spielberg’s career that adds useful context for why the fourth Indy movie may have felt so uneasy. The short version: according to Kathleen Kennedy, neither the director nor the star was fully sold on the direction George Lucas wanted to take the story, even while the movie was being made.

The Fourth Indiana Jones Movie Had A Sci-Fi Problem From The Start

The first three Indiana Jones movies were supernatural, but they were not really science fiction. The Ark of the Covenant, the Sankara stones and the Holy Grail all fit the franchise’s dusty adventure-serial DNA. Crystal Skull moved Indy into the 1950s, which meant Lucas wanted to pull from flying saucer paranoia and War of the Worlds-style sci-fi.

That is where the creative fight apparently began. Kennedy said Crystal Skull was especially difficult for cinematographer Janusz Kamiński, but the bigger issue was that Ford and Spielberg did not want Indy’s return to involve aliens, despite the director's clear fascination with them. As she put it:

Lucas remembered the disagreement similarly. He argued:

Calling it a compromise is sort of hilarious when you think about how the movie turned out, because for all intents and purposes, even in their design and how they function, the creatures are obviously aliens. But the compromise may explain why the movie has always felt as if it were arguing with itself.

Harrison Ford Has Defended Crystal Skull Before

The Blade Runner actor has not spent the years since trashing the movie. He even fired back at critics of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ahead of Dial of Destiny, pushing back against detractors he felt were applying their own rules to what the movie should have been.

The franchise’s leading man acknowledged that Crystal Skull was not as successful as everyone had hoped, and sure, the movie was divisive. However, critics did not universally pan it; it even holds a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Still, even Ford’s defense reads differently in light of Kennedy’s comments. Kennedy also connected that creative unease to Ford’s return for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. She said:

That tracks with how Dial of Destiny was sold, as a final emotional chapter for Indy rather than just another franchise lap. Whether Dial of Destiny fully worked is its own debate, and fans still have plenty to say about the de-aged Indiana opening sequence and how it ended Indiana Jones’ story. But Kennedy’s comments make Ford’s return feel less like a victory lap and more like unfinished business.

George Lucas Has No Hard Feelings

Lucas, for his part, seemed amused by how the whole thing landed. He said:

The funniest part is that both the Oscar-nominated actor and Oscar-winning filmmaker later circled back to sci-fi anyway. Spielberg continued exploring aliens and futuristic worlds, and Ford eventually returned to sci-fi through projects such as Cowboys and Aliens and Blade Runner 2049. Fans can revisit the Indy films with a Paramount+ subscription and also see him in another late-career franchise role in 1923.

That is the strange legacy of Crystal Skull. It was not just that fans resisted the aliens. According to people close to the production, Ford and the E.T. director were uneasy about them, too. For a franchise built on impossible escapes, that may be the one trap even Indiana Jones could not quite outrun.

As for Spielberg, he has once again returned to the world of aliens. His latest film, Disclosure Day, stars Emily Blunt, Colin Firth and Colman Domingo and explores the mass panic and global stakes that follow the ultimate proof of extraterrestrial life. The film landed in theaters today, June 12.

For the first time in almost 25 years, Steven Spielberg is one of the people behind an upcoming sci-fi movie that is wholly original, thanks to his new movie Disclosure Day. However, that doesn’t mean you won’t find some connections between the new film and his legendary contributions to the genre. And when CinemaBlend spoke to Disclosure Day’s screenwriter David Koepp, he name-dropped one beloved film of Spielberg's that is linked to the new movie.

Koepp and Spielberg are longtime collaborators who’ve worked together before on Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Since I’d heard him call Disclosure Day a "spiritual sequel” to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, I had to know what he meant by that. In Koepp’s words:

Close Encounters was released back in 1977 and served as the filmmaker’s first of a handful of alien movies he made, even predating E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. As Koepp shared in our interview, there are no characters or plotlines that connect it to Disclosure Day, but they very much could be thought of in the same breath due to their themes. As he continued:

While it’s somehow been almost a half of a century between Steven Spielberg’s first alien movie and Disclosure Day, Koepp thinks they both speak to how the public has perceived the potential of extraterrestrial life in association with the government’s knowledge about it. While Close Encounters explored the wonder and excitement involved in someone finding out about the existence of alien life, Disclosure Day starts with the idea of alien life being a truth already within the world, it just has yet to be officially released to the public.

Disclosure Day came out of an original story Spielberg thought up and started coming up with a concept for. He ended up writing a 38-page email detailing his plans for the storyline to David Koepp, which he then asked the screenwriter to work with him on. Koepp told us he thought to himself, “Holy smokes!” while reading the idea for the first time and thought it “worked so well.”

So far, Disclosure Day is receiving a lot of positive reactions that have called it a “towering home run,” “truly something special,” and “just great.” It has a fantastic Rotten Tomatoes score of 87% after a slew of complementary reviews went online. The science fiction movie is the biggest of the 2026 movie releases to come to theaters this weekend. You can see it for yourself on June 12.

Yesterday, just days before Steven Spielberg’s highly anticipated Disclosure Day hits the 2026 movie calendar, CinemaBlend staff members left an early screening and were generally happy with the results. John Williams’ throwback soundtrack gives ‘80s vibes, Emily Blunt slaps, and as a whole it really felt like a return to the director’s roots. Not surprisingly, those were the vibes of the over-the-top first reactions, as well as critics’ reviews, which dropped today.

However, I think Steven Spielberg’s fifth movie about aliens may end up being more polarizing than one might assume. Let’s see what the Disclosure Day reviews are saying, as well as what we overheard leaving the movie theater.

Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence rates it a B+, saying that Emily Blunt is the MVP in a movie that shows how Spielberg has matured over the years while maintaining his belief in life on other planets and his faith in humanity. The critic says:

David Ehrlich of IndieWire also gives the movie a B+, saying the director is “giddy” with excitement to share this fantastically entertaining story about how we are not alone in the world. Watching Disclosure Day in a theater full of captivated movie lovers all gasping at the same things only drives that message home further, Ehrlich says, writing:

David Rooney of THR says no living director understands the magic and power of movies more than Steven Spielberg, and while Disclosure Day touches on our fear of the unknown, the overwhelming themes of the movie are hope, truth, empathy and spirituality. The cast also could not be better, Rooney says, writing:

So yeah, this mostly seems like good news, right? And I think it will be for a lot of moviegoers this weekend. However, amongst the above glowing sentiments, Liz Shannon Miller felt some elements of the ending were underbaked; David Ehrlich found the writing “clunky,” and David Rooney found the CGI animals distracting and “borderline cheesy.”

It’s also worth pointing out that our own Editor-in-Chief did not like John Williams’ soundtrack, and we also heard people around us expressing confusion about some of the movie’s big questions.

The reviews weren’t all positive, either. Nicholas Barber of the BBC gives it just 2 out of 5 stars, calling it a “major disappointment.” Rather than an alien movie, Barber says it’s an “outdated car chase thriller” with absolutely no new ideas about aliens. He writes:

This last critic seems to be in the minority, however, as the film is already Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with 89%. As happy as I am to see that we’re having a summer of Steven Spielberg, I’m very interested to see whether this continues to be a “two thumbs up” movie once it officially hits theaters.

We don’t have long to wait, as Disclosure Day will be on the big screen starting Friday, June 12.

While horror has taken over the box office conversation over the last couple of weeks, it’s a big summer for tentpole movies, too. Fans have excitedly been calling it the summer of Tom Holland for a while now, as blockbuster movies like Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Odyssey and Avengers: Doomsday head straight to theaters. It’s not just the Spidey actor having a big summer, though, I’d argue it’s a Spielberg summer, too.

Disclosure Day Is Coming (And Even The Cast Celebrated With Some Spielberg Classics)

Summer always features at least a few fun tentpole movies, but it’s been a long time since we’ve not only gotten a Spielberg summer movie, but one about aliens to boot. In fact, Spielberg’s last big budget adventure film was probably Ready Player One, which came out in March of 2018, and therefore wasn't even a big summer release. That means the last honest-to-goodness summer Spielberg release we probably got was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull way back in 2008.

Meanwhile, when it comes to Spielberg’s alien movies, it’s been a while, too. Close Encounters of the Third Kind came out way back in 1977. E.T. came out a few years later in 1982. War of the Worlds was 2005, and if we’re getting a little more granular Kingdom of the Crystal Skull also technically counts.

Disclosure Day hits the 2026 movie release schedule this weekend, on June 12, and it’s a pretty big deal. Such a big deal, in fact, that his cast came out and wore iconic tentpole movie shirts when they promoted the new release a few weeks ago. The enthusiasm is palpable, particularly when it comes to all those deer, and there’s another way you can celebrate that’s not even on the big screen.

Universal Orlando Set Up Its Own Spielberg Summer Tribute. It’s Worth Checking Out

If you need more evidence it's the summer of Spielberg, Universal Studios Florida actually has a whole exhibit set up in honor of the famed director. The man has always been a huge part of the Universal theme parks. The Jaws ride was iconic. Sadly, it's gone, but the beloved ride paved the way for the 1975 classic to appear in other parts of the park, including this summer’s Mega Movie Parade. There’s an entire section of Islands of Adventure based on Jurassic Park/World, and the E.T. Adventure has remained one of the park’s classic rides. The Spielberg footprint in the parks is dino-sized.

There’s an entirely new way to celebrate, however, called Spielberg’s Summer Blockbusters. The tribute exhibit has walls covered with cool factoids, original props and costumes, plus some interactive components to really fully immerse you in the Summer of Spielberg. You can see a signed script. You can see some dino eggs. You can even take a photo of yourself and create your own Disclosure Day poster.

Plus, it's included with your Universal Studios Florida ticket price, and is a fun way to cool off and get out of the heat. Last year was a big deal because of the Jaws 50 anniversary, but I'm so excited to see Steven Spielberg back in the summer blockbuster game in 2026, and that's especially true now I know how over-the-top the first reactions have been.

While 2025 was a great year of horror, the genre is really experiencing a real jolt this year, thanks to two low-budget horror flicks taking the box office by storm. Curry Barker's Obsession and Kane Parsons' Backrooms are leaving lasting impressions on audiences, which went 1 & 2 in ticket sales last weekend. Plenty of critics and general audiences have offered up praise for the movies. Now, Steven Spielberg is weighing in on the two 2026 movie schedule entries as his own major release, Disclosure Day, nears its theatrical release.

There are more than a few reasons to marvel at the success of both Obsession and Backrooms, which have both earned more than $100 million worldwide, as of this writing. What's particularly impressive, though, is that the box office records milestones have been achieved by directors who are former YouTubers. As Steven Spielberg promoted Disclosure Day, Pop Drop asked him about impressed he was at the feats accomplished by the recently released horror films:

Steven Spielberg's praise for the two psychological horror movies is making me want to get tickets now for both. I’d like to believe the Oscar-winning director can relate to Barker and Parsons' situation. As the interviewer suggested, Spielberg was quite young when he found commercial success. The iconic filmmaker was only in his late 20s when Jaws opened in 1975 and hit big at the box office. So Spielberg would truly understand better than others what the two up-and-coming directors are going through.

Obsession only had a reportedly production budget of $750,000 and Backrooms’ budget was $10 million. Backrooms saw a particularly big box office win during its debut, as it opened with $81.5 million domestically and a worldwide haul of $118 million, marking A24’s biggest opening. And, at only 20 years old, Parsons became the youngest director to have a #1 film in the U.S. As of this writing, it's earned over $177 million worldwide.

Meanwhile, Obsession with $17.2 million domestically in third place amid its opening, but it still managed to more than stay afloat in the subsequent weeks. It's now earned $178 million worldwide.

Of course, Spielberg’s Disclosure Day has a bigger budget, and it's also expected to make a splash this summer. With over-the-top reactions already praising the sci-fi flick weeks before its release, Box Office Theory already predicts Spielberg’s latest flick will have a domestic opening between $45 million and $59 million. Any sum in that range would mark the director's biggest opening release since 2018's Ready Player One opened at $41.7.

All in all, what's wonderful about this summer movie season thus far is that the ecosystem is allowing for movies that range in terms of size. While it'll be great to see Spielberg deliver another tentpole film, it's wonderful that Barker and Parsons' smaller films are also making some noise. I also love that Spielberg took some time to show love to his fellow directors, and I hope he shares his thoughts on Backrooms soon.

Dare to see Backrooms and Obsession, which are playing in theaters now. Also, check Disclosure Day when it hits theaters on June 12th.

When I found out a TV adaptation of Cape Fear, one of the best horror movies ever, was getting made, I immediately wondered how it’d pay homage to the films that came before it. Along with that, when I found out Martin Scorsese, who directed the 1991 movie, and Steven Spielberg, who executive produced the film, were EPs on the show, I had to know how they influenced it. So, I asked Nick Antosca about the notes he got from the two legendary directors, and he told me about one I’m very happy he listened to.

Nick Antosca, the creator and showrunner of Apple TV’s critically acclaimed Cape Fear, worked with Spielberg and Scorsese on this show because they are all executive producers on it. When I asked him about the notes he got from the Jaws and Goodfellas directors, he recalled one vital one that helped tie this new program back to the movies that came before it:

For a bit of a history lesson, Herrmann was the composer of the 1962 movie’s score. Then, in 1991, Elmer Bernstein “adapted, arranged and conducted” Herrmann’s original score, as the album cover for '91's score proudly states. This music was then incorporated into the score for the show on the 2026 TV schedule.

Jeff Russo did the music for this series that sees Javier Bardem take on the role of Max Cady (who was played by Robert De Niro in ‘91 and Robert Mitchum in ‘62). As Antosca stated, there’s a lot of original music in the Apple TV project as well as the original score because this show is significantly longer than the movies that came before it. So, it’s cool to see how Russo has managed to mix the old with the new.

Overall, I love that this note was taken so seriously with this show. The commanding and classic score is undeniable, and it creates such a sense of fear and drama whenever it plays. Hearing it used in this modern take on Cape Fear helped me connect this new project back to the originals, as it evoked the thrill that came with the movies.

Along with that, this music, and how it is used alongside new original music, serves as a good example of how this new series (which could be one of Apple TV's best) forges its own path while honoring the projects that came before it.

Obviously, you can hear that in the music. However, I can also feel this specifically in Javier Bardem’s performance as Max Cady. His take on this guy is quite different from the others. Although the creepy yet slightly charismatic nature of the character is still very much intact.

Honestly, I’m very here for the ways this new take on Cape Fear both differentiates itself from its source material and pays homage to it. And I’m really happy it was able to do just that with the score, thanks to both Antosca’s vision and the adamant note he got about it from both Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese.

Now, to see this story unfold and to hear the iconic music, you can stream new episodes of Cape Fear every Friday with an Apple TV subscription.

When it comes to certain iconic movie characters, it’s hard to imagine any other actor in that role. Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank, Robin Williams as the Genie, and Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark are some examples that come to mind. Of course, one of the most universally agreed on is Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, but a key fact is that Tom Selleck had the part before Ford was even a consideration. Raiders of the Lost Ark director Steven Spielberg recently explained why Selleck had to drop one of the biggest movies of the ‘80s, and how they eventually landed on Ford.

Spielberg’s latest film, Disclosure Day, may be premiering this month as part of the 2026 movie schedule, but he recently threw it back to the early movies of his career in a conversation with Michelle Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, for their podcast, IMO. Obama asked the Jurassic Park director about his biggest casting karma (or the actors that got away). Harrison Ford has jokingly in the past thanked Selleck for dropping out of Indiana Jones, but Spielberg revealed that wasn’t exactly what happened:

Spielberg told his hosts how good Selleck’s screen test was, so it doesn’t surprise me that the Blue Bloods actor had two era-defining projects fighting over him. Selleck previously discussed his frustration and disappointment in being forced out of Indiana Jones, even though Magnum P.I. ended up being huge for his career.

I mean, speaking of perfect casting, can you imagine any other mustached man wearing that iconic Hawaiian shirt? The Saving Private Ryan director revealed he would have had Selleck shave the iconic stache to play the legendary whip-cracking archaeologist.

Regardless, Selleck’s CBS contract left George Lucas, who created Indiana Jones, and Spielberg back at square one, but it decidedly was the perfect twist of fate. Around the same time, The Fablemans director went to a private pre-screening of The Empire Strikes Back, where he apparently found the man fated to wear the iconic fedora. As Spielberg recalled:

It’s the age-old question when it comes to Harrison Ford’s iconic roles: who’s better, Han Solo or Indiana Jones? I’m sure Lucas was considering the chances of Indiana Jones stealing away his fan-favorite Star Wars renegade but, eventually, he must have decided Ford could handle both franchises, and thank God he did. Spielberg said with Lucas’ blessing, it was pretty much a done deal:

Ford reflected on getting that call from Lucas, with a little more urgency than Spielberg let on. The Blade Runner actor said Lucas called him to let him know he was sending a script over, and asked Ford to read it in an hour. Presumably, based on Spielberg's comments, Lucas called the Spielberg the same day, telling him Ford was accepting the role as Indy.

It almost sounds like Lucas made the decision for the Air Force One actor but, if George Lucas told me to take a movie role, he wouldn’t need to say it twice. In hindsight, it was probably the second best decision Ford ever made, after agreeing to play Han Solo, and the Patriot Games actor has credited Lucas for his early career before.

To be clear, I wholeheartedly trust Steven Spielberg and have no doubt Tom Selleck would have made a great whip-slinging, Nazi-fighting adventurer. However, it wouldn’t be the Indy we’ve come to know and love. Harrison Ford brought a certain scrappy charm to the character, a quality he showed in Han Solo and carried over throughout the entire Indiana Jones franchise. On that note, can relive all Indy’s best adventures with a Disney+ subscription.

Steven Spielberg's latest movie, Disclosure Day, explores what would happen if members of the public were to learn that aliens were walking among us. From what's been shown thus far, it's an ambitious flick, and it features big names in its cast. Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, and Colman Domingo are among the members of the ensemble, and I can't wait to see them in the film! In the meantime, though, I'm smiling over the sight of those three actors expressing their love for their director with an awesome T-shirt tribute. And Spielberg’s wholesome reaction is the real cherry on top.

Disclosure Day may be a dark alien story, but this latest instance of cast camaraderie is from from dreary. Blunt, Domingo and O'Connor recently appeared at a press event for their 2026 movie schedule entry, and they showed up in seriously on-brand clothing. As can be seen in Universal Pictures' Instagram post, three each wore a shirt that honored a specific Spielberg film. Check them out:

Aww, I love this! It’s perfect that O’Connor, who previously shared heartwarming comments on working with Spielberg, believed he would be the only one honoring him via his E.T. shirt. But, hey, he’s not the only fan of the filmmaker’s work. Blunt expressed by her Spielberg fandom by wearing a Jaws tee at the event, while Domingo joined in on the fun by wearing a Jurassic Park shirt. I honestly can't think of a better way for the stars to not only honor Spielberg's best films but also the man himself.

Speaking of Steven Spielberg, he responded to the show of affection from his cast by doing what he does best -- filming. The Oscar-winning filmmaker whipped out his phone and began taking a video, and you can see a video of all that in the post below:

Because, of course, the Saving Private Ryan director needed to direct this picture-perfect photo opp. The man looks like a proud father while getting that video, and I couldn't love it more.

While Spielberg has plenty of beloved films, I'm already getting the feeling that Disclosure Day could end up being regarded as one of his best. The first reactions to the alien flick are already filled over-the-top with praise, describing the upcoming release as “a rollercoaster ride,” “absolutely phenomenal,” and “exhilarating.” Even Barack Obama hilariously trolled the prolific filmmaker when he wasn’t allowed to watch the movie early. Right now, all signs point to Spielberg delivering another winner that’ll have audiences completely hooked.

It's wonderful that we still live in a world where Steven Spielberg continues to make great films and assemble excellent casts. I'm not sure I'll ever forget the sight of Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor and Colman Domingo sporting those shirts and, quite frankly, I don't want to.

Show your love of Spielberg this summer by checking out Disclosure Day, which opens in theaters on June 12th.

Steven Spielberg’s films are great for many reasons, and that’s in part due to the director’s ambition. With that in mind, he – and Universal Pictures – certainly “spared no expense” when crafting 1993’s Jurassic Park. Based on Michael Crichton’s acclaimed novel of the same name, the film is not only a showcase of prehistoric thrills and chills but also one of the earliest instances of what could truly be done with digital effects. Spielberg and co. ultimately made a great film but, early on, even he was naive when it came to one element.

Over the years, the cast and crew have discussed their experiences on the production and just how much of an undertaking it was. SFX Magazine on CinemaBlend previously released a retrospective on the film, which included comments from late visual effects icon Stan Winston. The Oscar winner recalled Spielberg coming into the project with a lot of ideas from a filmmaking standpoint. One desire Spielberg had was actually inspired by 1986’s Aliens (for which Winston won an Oscar) but, per Winston, that request wasn’t feasible:

Winston’s reasoning is sound, as the film’s tyrannosaurus rex would need to be based on the look of the actual dinosaur. Conversely, the massive Alien Queen featured in James Cameron’s 1986 sci-fi thriller isn’t real, so Winston and co. could take liberties with the look to make it easier for their purposes. Still, I can’t criticize Spielberg for simply wanting to provide a practical element for his blockbuster. This, of course, all begs the question of how Spielberg, Winston and their colleagues ended up proceeding.

For the T-Rex, Winston and his team ultimately decided to create a one-fifth scale clay model of the imposing dinosaur, and they then turned it into a puppet. After that, the model was scanned by the folks at Industrial Light & Magic for the purposes of laying out the film’s visual effects shots. The plan may not have preceded the way Spielberg initially hoped, but it’s hard to argue with the results that ultimately materialized on the big screen.

It’s been interesting to hear behind-the-scenes facts about Jurassic Park over the years, as they provide keen insight into the finer details of crafting the beloved blockbuster. Some of the most interesting pieces of lore included a massive hurricane hitting Hawaii as the stars cast and crew were filming and the fact that Spielberg made dinosaur noises on set to try and make the experience more visceral for the cast. The director’s sound-based efforts in that regard actually contributed to Laura Dern’s belief that the finished film would be “horrible.”

But, over 30 years (and billions of dollars) later, the Jurassic Park/World franchise is still flourishing, thanks in great part to how the OG flick laid that foundation. Moviegoers should be forever grateful to Spielberg and his collaborators for all the hard work they put in on that movie. Of course, Stan Winston deserves credit as well for tempering Spielberg’s expectations regarding what was actually viable for the film as far as that T-Rex went.

Steven Spielberg may have any Jurassic films on the docket (as far as we know), but he does have a new movie, Disclosure Day, being released amid the 2026 movie schedule. That UFO film – which is written by Jurassic Park’s David Koepp – opens in theaters on June 12.

Steven Spielberg is one of the most prolific filmmakers of all time, and any film with his name attached is sure to get eyes on it. That includes President Barack Obama, who is a cinephile himself. It turns out that Obama is totally bullying Spielberg over not being invited to an early screening for Disclosure Day. And the story is pretty delightful.

What we know about Disclosure Day is pretty limited, which has only helped to increase hype surrounding the mysterious project. Only time will tell if it becomes one of Steven Spielberg's best movies, but the former president is definitely invested. Spielberg recently appeared on the podcast IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson, where the former First Lady revealed that President Obama is low-key beefing with the Jurassic Park filmmaker. In her words:

Honestly, can you blame him? The first reactions to Disclosure Day have been over the top, and there are plenty of movie fans who are chomping at the bit to see the mysterious blockbuster. That includes Barack Obama, who has been bullying Spielberg due to not getting early access. And the way he's doing it is pretty hilarious.

In addition to being fans of TV and film, the Obamas have also produced a number of projects over the years. So they're invested in the industry, as well as Spielberg's work in particular... especially since the former President got to visit the set of Disclosure Day. In the same podcast episode, the E.T. director shared more about the way the "bullying" is going down, offering:

Shots fired. Steven Spielberg is a big proponent of the theatrical experience, so President Obama seemingly hit him where it hurts. Not only is he threatening to watch the new movie on his phone, but to watch if vertically. As we know, this will cut out most of the frame... in addition to being a disservice to the way Disclosure Day was shot and edited. You can see the conversation between the director and the former First Lady below:

Luckily for both moviegoing audiences and Barack Obama, the wait for Disclosure Day is nearly over. The mysterious science-fiction movie will arrive in theaters on June 12th as part of the 2026 movie release list. And I can't wait to see what the former President thinks about Steven Spielberg's latest directorial venture.

Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day is one of the most hotly anticipated entries on the 2026 movie schedule, and the early reactions are starting to pour in. Overall, it’s safe to say that critics so far are loving it. The film brings Spielberg back to the subject of aliens, something he’s proven over and over to be a master of with movies like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, War of the Worlds, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

I’ve been excited about Disclosure Day since even before that first tease dropped and before the name had even been…disclosed. Now, reading these early reactions, my excitement level has jumped 10 fold. I’m especially pumped for the rave reviews Emily Blunt is getting for her performance in the movie, with some even saying she could be an awards contender. That’s pretty rare for a summer popcorn flick. We’re still more than two weeks away from the movie’s release, but Steven Weintraub from Collider has seen it and has this to say:

Weintraub then shouted out Blunt specifically:

Germain Lussier from Gizmondo also praised Blunt and called ithe film Spielberg’s best movie since one of my all-time favorites, Catch Me If You Can. Lussier tweeted:

Bill Bria has also seen the movie, and not only does he love Blunt’s performance in it, but he also praised the score by John Williams, because, of course, it’s also great! Williams is 94 years old, and it’s so wonderful that he is teaming up with Spielberg again after all the magic they’ve created over basically my entire life, going back to Jaws in 1975. Bria also gave a shout-out to another longtime Spielberg collaborator, David Koepp, who wrote Jurassic Park, saying:

Bria also added in another tweet:

Tessa Smith also heaped praise on Williams, while comparing the movie to The Twilight Zone, tweeting:

Jim Hemphill at IndieWire also loved the movie, writing that Spielberg is still the best at what he does. Hemphill tweeted:

Echoing other critics, Drew Taylor from The Wrap, also singles out Blunt’s work in the movie, along with very high praise for the movie overall, writing:

What's known is that Disclosure Day centers on a whistleblower (played by Josh O'Connor), who finds himself in possession of major information that could change the course of mankind. Spielberg assembles a strong cast for this one, as O'Connor and Blunt are joined by Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, Eve Hewson and Wyatt Russell.

The final trailer also dropped today after the first, full one was released in March, so the hype machine is in full effect. But, based on these limited reactions so far, the hype is worth it. Will it live up to the claim that it’s the best Spielberg movie in decades? I sure hope so! I know I really can’t wait to see it now!

Check out Disclosure Day when it opens in theaters nationwide on June 12. In the meantime, revisit Steven Spielberg's other UFO-centric films or experience them for the first time.

Steven Spielberg's latest feature film, Disclosure Day, is stirring up buzz ahead of its release on the 2026 movie schedule. For starters, the film marks Spielberg’s first directorial effort since 2022’s The Fabelmans, and it also marks his return to the science-fiction genre. There have also been a few conspiracy theories surrounding this latest Spielberg-helmed UFO tale as well. I’ve known about that chatter for a little while now, but I didn’t know about one piece of government-related gossip. And, now, the film’s writer is sharing his take on that claim.

Disclosure Day tells the story of a young man seeking to divulge major information that could change the world. While many of the finer story details are being kept under lock and key, it’s clear there’s an extraterrestrial force at play in the movie. For that reason, some people apparently believe Spielberg is releasing this film to help the government prepare the masses to make first contact with aliens. Screenwriter David Koepp is aware, and he shared a great take on it with SFX Magazine on CinemaBlend:

The mere thought of one of cinema’s most iconic directors working alongside Uncle Sam is funny, and I’m really chuckling over the supposed notion that the upcoming sci-fi movie includes real alien footage. However, I guess if any filmmaker would be sought out by the U.S. government to prepare citizens for otherworldly beings it would be Spielberg. His experience with UFO movies and his ability to make complex, yet widely accessible movies, would make him the perfect candidate.

Of course, the E.T. helmer has also had a decades-long fascination with aliens, but prospective viewers shouldn’t put too much stock in the assertion that Disclosure Day is some kind of propaganda piece. Koepp – who has written five of Spielberg’s films – also wants people to know the Men in Black haven’t come knocking at his door. However, the witty scribe also had an A+ thought on whether he might’ve had such an encounter:

Even though Spielberg’s latest film isn’t a co-production with that government, that doesn’t mean fans shouldn’t take notice. The Disclosure Day trailers tease a story filled with sci-fi-related intrigue, and it has a stacked cast consisting of Josh O’Connor, Emily Blunt, Colin Firth, Colman Domingo and Wyatt Russell. Koepp also promises that the movie will differ from the other UFO-based tales that Spielberg has told thus far, which is exciting.

So, everyone, take off those tinfoil hats and get ready to see Disclosure Day when it opens in theaters nationwide on June 12, 2026. I trust that Steven Spielberg will indeed tell yet another compelling sci-fi tale and, the good news is, we won’t need to be neuralized after we watch it.

This summer, fans are being graced with a new movie from the great Steven Spielberg and, with it, the filmmaker is returning to a genre he’s very familiar with. Spielberg’s feature film, Disclosure Day, is a science-fiction film that centers around a conspiracy that seemingly involves a UFO. Given that premise, many have already been comparing this 2026 movie schedule entry to some of Spielberg’s past films, which have dealt with similar subject matter. Now, the film’s writer is responding to that assumption, and I love his take.

Spielberg has obviously dipped his toes into stories revolving around humanity making contact with beings from other planets. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and War of the Worlds represent other instances in which the Oscar winner has depicted such events. David Koepp penned the script for this latest film, and he’s heard the comparisons that have been tossed around. While speaking to SFX Magazine on CinemaBlend, Koepp weighed in on how DD relates to its predecessors thematically:

Koepp – who’s been collaborating off and on with Spielberg since 1993’s Jurassic Park – makes points that I really agree with. First and foremost, the Jaws helmer isn’t one to repeat himself, so any concerns about him possibly rehashing any themes for his latest movie feel unwarranted. To that point, Spielberg’s previous UFO flicks are all different from each other as well. I mean, the intensity of WOTW is far different from the sweetness of the suburban-coded ET or the cosmic yearning present in Close Encounters.

On that note, many are probably still wondering what to expect from the plot of Steven Spielberg’s latest movie. Well, the Disclosure Day trailer doesn’t give too much away, but at the core of it seems to be one Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor), who seeks to reveal a massive secret to the world. As for what shaped Koepp’s approach to writing the screenplay based on Spielberg’s “40 or 50-page” treatment, he cited an iconic director:

Pakula is known for producing dramas and thriller films like All the President’s Men and The Parallax View, so I’d say David Koepp’s source of inspiration is quite solid. Quite frankly, I just can’t wait to see how Steven Spielberg’s continued fascination with aliens manifests through this latest cinematic endeavor. Admittedly, I can imagine his new movie has slight similarities to his other UFO movies but, based on Koepp’s comments, viewers are in for something wholly original.

Check out Disclosure Day, which opens in theaters on June 12. While you wait for the film, do yourself a favor and revisit some of Steven Spielberg’s greatest movies, whether they’re alien-related or not.

Look, if you’re a movie fan, I can pretty much guarantee you’re a Steven Spielberg fan, too. I mean, the legendary filmmaker changed the medium forever with his massive run of masterpieces, from E.T., to Jurassic Park, Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark or Schindler’s List. As the director returns to the big screen with this year's anticipated release, his new movie Disclosure Day, I love that Universal Studios Orlando has announced the many ways that energy will be represented in the park.

I Love That Universal Is Celebrating Steven Spielberg's Heavy Hitters In More Ways Than One

Universal Orlando just announced what’s going on over summertime, via a press release, and the plans are stacked with love for Spielberg… as it should be! If you go to Universal Orlando Resort in Florida from May 23 through August 10 you can experience it yourself.

Jaws has long been one of the major properties with a presence at Universal Studios Orlando, and the summer one thing you’ll notice is a number of new Jaws-inspired “interactive experiences”, photo ops, drinks and “bites.” Guests can also look out for parks-exclusive merch around Jaws that will only be available during the season.

Additionally, there’s going to be more from the Universal Mega Movie Parade which will not only celebrate Jaws (in epic fashion), but other Spielberg favorites like E.T. and Jurassic World. The parade has over a dozen floats and almost 100 performers, and will also involve Back To The Future, Ghostbusters, Minions, Sing, Trolls and Kung Fu Panda. On top of that, one of our favorite attractions CineSational is back with “A Symphonic Spectacular” complete with a big nighttime lagoon show to the tune of more Universal favorites.

New Movie Disclosure Day Is Also Getting Its Own Exhibit

Along with reminding parkgoers about the iconic films from Steven Spielberg’s past, Universal Orlando is also getting behind Disclosure Day. It’s Spielberg’s latest alien movie starring the likes of Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Colman Doming and Wyatt Russell. There’s going to be a Disclosure Day exhibit this summer which will have props and behind the scenes stories from the new movie. The exhibit will also include other props from some other Spielberg movies as well.

This is pretty special, isn’t it? Disclosure Day is the filmmakers first movie since The Fabelmans and first genre film made for the summer season in an entire decade when The BFG came out. Universal Orlando is also holding a bunch of deals and specials right now, like one where you can buy a 3-day ticket and get 2 days free, which you can check out on Universal Orlando website. And you can see Disclosure Day when it hits theaters on June 12.

Do you know what’s interesting? As prolific a director as Steven Spielberg is, I feel like there are certain movies of his that just seem to fly under the radar.

Yes, most people have seen the Indiana Jones movies, as well as films like Jurassic Park, Jaws, and E.T. But then, there are lesser-viewed Spielberg movies, like The B.F.G., The Terminal, and The Post.

But THEN, you have the really under-appreciated Spielberg movies. I’m talking about films like 1941 (which probably should remain under-appreciated), The Sugarland Express, which I saw for the first time not too long ago, and probably his MOST under-appreciated film, 1989’s Always, which is a shame since it’s a really great movie. Let's talk about why that is.

It’s A Remake Of An Already Great 1940’s Movie, Titled A Guy Named Joe

If you ask most movie fans how many films Spielberg has remade, they’d likely say two, those being War of the Worlds, and West Side Story, and I get why they’d say that. It’s because people were well aware of whatWar of the Worlds before his take on it, as the H.G. Wells work inspired multiple adaptations. (Even getting recently being remade with Ice Cube…which is unfortunate, given the results.)

And West Side Story? Well, everybody knows about the 1961 original. It's one of the many musicals that has won Best Picture. So, when Spielberg remade it, everybody KNEW it was a remake.

But Always? Well, it doesn’t even have the same title as the original, which is A Guy Named Joe. The latter is also from 1943, and in black and white, so, it’s likely that only your grandparents have seen it. However, as somebody who actually loves old, black and white movies, I’ve seen it, and it’s a really good movie. So, Spielberg was really just building upon the skeleton of that film when he made Always, which is Joe’s remake.

Starring Spencer Tracy as a World War II pilot, and Irene Dunne as his love interest, A Guy Named Joe is about how Tracy’s character finds himself in a situation he’d rather not be in after a failed mission, and the ramifications of that. I’m trying not to give too much away, since doing so would also spoil Always, but just know that the film has supernatural elements, and that it’s a romance.

Against most odds, it works. Yes, some of it's a bit maudlin, but you feel for the characters, and it’s effective. It’s little wonder why Spielberg wanted to remake it.

That Said, Always FEELS Like A Spielberg Movie To Its Very Core

Steven Spielberg doesn’t make “romance movies.” Yes, he will have films with romantic elements, but it’s not like he’s ever made a full-on romance like The English Patient, or Hamnet. It’s simply not his style. Well, the closest Spielberg’s really ever gotten to that was Always, as it retains the romantic elements of A Guy Named Joe, but it’s also humorous, engaging, and even uplifting at times.

Again, I don’t want to spell out the story too much, but I will say that Richard Dreyfuss plays the lead role as Pete, a risk-tasking firefighter in the sky. All of the flight scenes are exhilarating in the way that Spielberg likes to excite people, and the events that occur to Pete are rather tragic, but not TOO tragic to the point where you’re crying in your popcorn.

However, similar to A Guy Named Joe, there are supernatural elements at play here, and Spielberg uses that conceit to craft both fun moments, but also sentimental scenes that really give it that Spielbergian charm (I could only imagine how cold or dark this movie would be if it had been directed by my favorite director, Stanley Kubrick).

But, all of these exciting and sentimental moments are really buttressed by the true heart of this movie, and that’s its romance, which I’ll get into next.

The Romance Involved Truly Feels Heartfelt

I know I keep tiptoeing around the plot since I’m writing this article for those who HAVEN’T seen this movie, but I will say that if I could compare it to any romantic film, it would be 1990’s Ghost, which came out one year after Always. But, that’s all I'll say in that regard.

What I will talk about though is that this is a romantic story, as it centers around the heart of one woman named Dorinda, played by Holly Hunter. Hunter’s character is in love with Dreyfuss’ Pete, but she worries about him. He goes on all of these dangerous missions, and he just shrugs off her concerns because he considers himself the best of the best.

Dorinda is also a pilot, you see, so she knows what she’s talking about when she warns Pete to cool it in the sky, but her warnings might be too little too late, which seriously puts their romance into question. However, Dorinda also has another love interest in this film, and that’s from another pilot named Ted Baker (Played by the late Brad Johnson).

The romance that takes place presents an interesting “love triangle” that you wouldn’t expect, but it’s still incredibly heartfelt, as jealousy is involved, but also acceptance. It’s sweet.

I Also Love The Cast, Especially John Goodman

I once wrote an article about John Goodman movies that don’t get talked about enough, and I lament that I left off Always, as it’s another film he stars in that doesn’t get talked about as much as it should. Goodman plays another flyboy in Al Yackey, and he’s close friends with Dreyfuss’ Pete character.

Similar to Pete’s girlfriend, Al also suggests that maybe Pete takes a safer line of work rather than putting out fires, because he’s afraid his friend will get burned. Well, something of that nature occurs, but it’s only because he’s looking out for his good old buddy, Al.

And, Goodman does a great job of playing the concerned friend and flyboy. He’s funny, but also serious, like when he gets covered in flame retardant. It’s a humorous scene, but when Goodman criticizes getting turned completely red, he also has the ability to lay into the pilots like a disappointed parent. It just works.

In fact, the entire cast is great (Including Audrey Hepburn, in her final role). Everybody plays their parts well, making for one of the most memorable casts in a Spielberg movie.

In The End, Always Might Not Be The Most Bombastic Spielberg Movie, But It Still Deserves A Watch

Spielberg is a real workhorse (I said workhorse, not War Horse), and I think I know why Always might not be as remembered as it should be.

It’s because it came out the same year as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In fact, this is just one in 6 times that Spielberg made two movies in the same year.

And, honestly, when thinking back to which movie people would remember more fondly - the exhilarating capper to a beloved action series, or a remake to some forgotten movie from the ‘40s, well, I understand why people don't still talk about this film.

That said, while Always is no Last Crusade, it’s still a worthy watch. In fact, I stick to the claim that it’s Spielberg’s most under-appreciated movie, and I really do think you should see it if you haven’t already. It’s a real gem of a film.

The 2026 movie calendar would look very different without Steven Spielberg. He helped define the modern blockbuster and set the standard for large-scale sci-fi storytelling decades ago. So when he talks about what he’s watching now, it tends to carry some weight. Well, someone better check on Denis Villeneuve because after he hears Spielberg’s glowing thoughts about his Dune Movies, he’s probably going to be feeling a particular sort of way.

As it turns out, Steven Spielberg has been paying close attention to Denis Villeneuve’s book-to-screen adaptations of the Dune series. And he’s not just a casual viewer. In a recent interview with Empire, the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial director made it clear he sees the French-Canadian moviemaker’s take on Frank Herbert's classic series of novels as something special. He explained:

Coming from the filmmaker behind Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and one who's so obsessed with aliens and science fiction, that's not light praise. It almost feels like a passing-of-the-torch moment between generations of sci-fi storytellers.

The Oscar-winning director didn’t stop at calling the films some of his all-time favorites. He also pointed to something that has defined Villeneuve’s approach from the start: a clear respect for the source material. He continued:

Bringing up Guillermo del Toro and his approach to Frankenstein, the iconic Hollywood filmmaker is placing the Arrival director in a specific category of filmmakers. Not just directors who adapt well-known material, but ones who treat the material with a kind of reverence that fans immediately recognize.

That comparison says a lot about how Spielberg views Dune. It’s not just a successful modern sci-fi franchise. In his eyes, it’s a careful translation of a difficult, dense work into something cinematic without losing its identity.

Villeneuve’s adaptation has always been planned as a trilogy, and the upcoming Dune: Part Three is expected to bring that story to a close, bringing the second book in the series, Dune: Messiah, to the big screen. If Spielberg’s reaction is any indication, expectations are only getting higher as the final chapter approaches.

The Schindler’s List director's praise also reinforces how rare this kind of reception is. Big-budget adaptations of beloved books don’t always land with audiences, see the late David Lynch's 1980s attempt at the very same property, and they don’t always earn this level of respect from filmmakers who helped shape the genre in the first place. The fact that the blockbuster pioneer is this enthusiastic about the series sort of proves Villeneuve’s version of Dune has already secured its place among the best sci-fi films of the modern era, and hey, maybe even cinematic history.

For Denis Villeneuve, hearing such a compliment from the Jurassic Park filmmaker is likely surreal. This is the director whose work defined what large-scale storytelling could look like on screen. To now be mentioned alongside filmmakers like del Toro, and to have Dune recognized as one of the Saving Private Ryan filmmaker’s all-time favorites, has got to feel pretty life-affirming, I'd imagine.

Dune: Part Three is set to hit theaters on December 18, 2026, going head-to-head with Avengers: Doomsday. And if the first two films set the foundation, the final installment now carries the weight of finishing something that has already earned the approval of one of cinema’s most influential voices.

As for Steven Spielberg, he too has an upcoming sci-fi flick on the horizon. His alien-conspiracy-theory film Disclosure Day lands in theaters this summer, on June 12, 2026.

Steven Spielberg has directed some of the best movies ever made. They’ve run the gamut of style and topics. He’s made Oscar-winning dramas about World War II. He’s made pulp-inspired action/adventure. He’s even made a musical. However, there is one particular topic that is clearly important to Spielberg, as he’s made several movies dealing with aliens.

From E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Spielberg clearly loves making alien movies. His latest film, Disclosure Day, is a return to the topic of aliens. It may also be his last movie on the subject, as he told Empire that his question of whether or not we are alone in the universe has been “resolved” by the film. Spielberg said…

While a lot of the details of Disclosure Day and its plot are still shrouded in mystery, the movie stars Josh O’Connor and Emily Blunt and is the story of a whistleblower's attempt to reveal to the world that alien life does exist.

Spielberg’s view on alien life has included almost every conceivable view on the topic. We’ve seen the friendly aliens in E.T. and the hostile ones in War of the Worlds. Exactly which side of the fence the aliens of Disclosure Day will land is unclear, but Spielberg says that for him, there’s no question that he would want to know the truth if aliens were real.

While the topic of alien life is certainly a curiosity for many, for Steven Spielberg, it’s obviously much more than that. The director credits a childhood experience with his father as the catalyst for his interest in the question of aliens. He explained…

Whether or not we get more alien movies from Steven Spielberg, there will certainly never be an end to them in Hollywood. The question of whether or not there is life elsewhere in the world will always be out there, unless it is somehow answered.

Following in the footsteps of two all-timer Hollywood legends like Robert Mitchum and Robert De Niro would be intimidating for anyone, but taking on a role like stalker-rapist Max Cady already requires a certain amount of quasi-psycho chutzpah. And hot diggity danger, Javier Bardem is truly embodying beast mode in the first trailer for the upcoming Apple TV series that’ll be the first episodic adaptation of Cape Fear, backed by mega-producers Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.

The first trailer seen above is arguably one of the most tense and blood pressure-raising ways to start one’s day, or to end it, depending on when you’re watching. Cape Fear co-stars Patrick Wilson and Amy Adams as attorney Tom Bowden and Anna Bowden, respectively, the parents of Lily Collias’ Natalie and Joe Anders’ Zack. They’re your typical, everyday, affluent AF, Southern family….with some regrettable skeletons in their shared closet.

Enter one such intimidation-minded skeleton, the aforementioned Max Cady, who is newly released from prison and is seems pretty interested in seeking vengeance against those who put him away. It wasn’t exactly an open and shut case, with Tom and Anna responsible for obscuring evidence that likely would have led to Cady going free. Let it be a lesson that the worst people you can possibly try to legally screw over are the ones you already believe are capable of humanity’s worst crimes. I say, I say, are ya taking’ notes, Tom, my boy? (That’s my best Foghorn Leghorn impression.)

It’s not a very complicated set-up, and the TV show looks like it’ll take full advantage of all the extra narrative time to really juice the hell out of Cady stalking and psychologically hounding the Bowden family. Javier Bardem really does look like a natural fit for the part, bringing all of the impulsive and intrusive terror of No Country for Old Men’s Anton Chigurh, but with the most charismatic and engaging personality attached. Not to mention the way his back tattoos seem to follow me no matter where I’m walking in the room.

Cape Fear was one of the best movies of the 1990s — despite not even being Scorsese’s top ‘90s film — so the idea to bring it back as a weekly series for the 2026 TV schedule takes a wild mind behind the scenes. Which makes it a perfect project for creator and showrunner Nick Antosca, whose A-tier anthology series Channel Zero remains my most treasured horror TV ever, and who’s also helped bring other classic characters like Hannibal Lecter and Chucky to the small screen.

Beyond the trio of huge stars fronting this series, the Cape Fear cast is as good as it gets. We have Silence of the Lambs great Ted Levine (who's also excellent in Netflix's Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen), a pair of Sons of Anarchy vets in CCH Pounder and Ron Perlman, The Wire great Jamie Hector, Daredevil: Born Again's Margarita Levieva, Paradise's Patrick Fischler and more.

June 5 is the big day when everyone with a Apple TV subscription can take part in sharing the Bowden family's ongoing dread, as Cape Fear will be dropping the first two episodes of its 10-ep season, with the first directed by The Intimidation Game's Morten Tyldum.

Jaws is often called the “first summer blockbuster.” It’s credited as a movie that changed Hollywood forever. Today, we all know just what a big deal Jaws was. At the time, though, Steven Spielberg certainly had no idea it would be as big as it became, though he does say there was a moment he knew it would be a success.

In an appearance with The Big Picture at SXSW, Steven Spielberg talked about Jaws. The movie had a famously troubled production, including a mechanical shark that didn’t work. Spielberg has admitted to having a panic attack during the shoot. As such, he said he had no clue what he had with Jaws when it was all done. His first clue, at a preview screening, did not start out as a good sign. Spielberg said…

As somebody who actually only saw Jaws for the first time recently, I can completely understand what appeared to be happening here. I was shocked that the movie killed a child, and in such a violent way. I wouldn’t be shocked if somebody was so shaken by the moment that they just couldn’t watch anymore.

Except that’s not exactly what happened. The rest of the story is potentially more shocking than the movie scene, as the moment did have a profound impact on the audience member. But it was what happened after that which, in Spielberg's mind, sealed the film’s success. He continued…

I can’t really argue with the idea that if you can make a movie that makes its audience vomit, but also makes them go back and finish the film, you’re onto something. Most people simply wouldn’t be in shape to keep watching a movie after getting sick, no matter the reason, but this guy was not going to miss the rest of Jaws.

The movie would go on to become a massive blockbuster, which is good, because if it had been anything less, it would have been a failure and likely stalled Steven Spielberg's career. The director credits some happy accidents, like the shark not working, and some luck, like knowing John Williams, who created one of the most iconic themes in movie history, for all playing their part in making Jaws the film it is. Speilberg said…

Steven Spielberg has admitted to hiding out in the Jaws section of the Universal Studios Tour for years as he mentally recovered from the grueling experience that was filming the movie. Luckily, all the various pieces came together in exactly the way they needed to, and Jaws became a massive hit, even if it may have made a few people sick along the way.

Two years ago, I would not have expected one of my most anticipated 2026 movie releases would be a Steven Spielberg alien movie, and yet here we are, awaiting the bejesus out of the director’s upcoming feature Disclosure Day. Since the first teaser trailer dropped in December, genre-lovers like myself have been mulling over what we should be expecting, and what exactly is happening with Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor’s characters. The newest trailer doesn’t reveal everything, but it does tap into my biggest theory.

The little we know for sure about the movie is that Emily Blunt is a meteorologist who falls into a seemingly alien-oriented fugue state mid-broadcast. Josh O'Connor is someone who finds that he can relate entirely too well to that situation, as Liv Hewson's character stresses out over it all. Now, I’m not saying that my prediction discussed below is solid gold or completely exclusive to my own brain. But here we go.

Disclosure Day Confirmed My Theory That The Story Ties Back To Roswell, New Mexico

Considering Roswell is arguably the most prominent U.S. city that's wholly connected to UFO culture, the idea that it's a core part of the Disclosure Day story makes complete sense. Thus the theorizing in the first place. But exactly how it's being used is still up in the air.

The only time the area's name is mentioned straight away is in the shot of the clapper board, which also sets the time in July. The year isn't noted anywhere, but July of '47 is indeed when UFO reports surfaced in New Mexico. There's one more detail to note here as well. Colman Domingo's character can be heard and seen uttering this statement, though the context isn't exactly clear.

What year is 79 years before our current a=date of 2026? Why, 1947 of course. We don't need tin-foil hats on to make the declarative statement that they're all in on it. Who? Who isn't might be the better question.

Also possibly supporting this notion: if aliens haven't been living amongst humans on Earth for more than half a century, and one suddenly arrived one day and took over a random woman, would it really count as "disclosure" for that information to be disseminated to the public? Not really. In my mind, the word "disclosure" implies the information at hand has been hidden and covered up for a long time; like nearly 80 years worth of time.

My New Theory: Colman Domingo's Character Is Responsible For Creating "Hoax" Footage For The Government

It's obviously hard to gauge how every single character's arc will go in this movie without a lot more footage to go on, but I'm particularly intrigued by Domingo's mysterious character, whose direct connection to the plot is still unknown. Considering he's the one who references Roswell with the aforementioned quote, I'm certainly interested to learn more about him.

One of Domingo's trailer moments takes place on what appears to be within a movie or TV soundstage, most notably indicated by the rear-side of a wall set piece. Which indicates he's in the entertainment industry. It doesn't take a huge leap to connect that character to one of the most iconic filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick.

Why? Well, Stanley Kubrick has long been connected to the oft-debunked conspiracy theory that he actually filmed the Apollo 11 moon landing footage, including Neil Armstrong's first steps on its surface. That claim has been pervasive enough to spark a segment in the nutty Shining fan-theory documentary Room 237, and remains cited as a source of "proof" for those who do not believe humans have ever traveled in space.

From there, we can apply that general idea onto Domingo's character. He's obviously not old enough to have filmed anything to pose as Rowell videos or the 1969 space mission, but it's possible he's currently employed in secret by the U.S. government to craft "fake" videos that devalue and delegitimize any authentic footage of aliens or spacecraft that may exist.

I believe the character's tone in the trailer plays into the idea that he'll start rebelling against his authority figures in order to give the American public the truth, or whatever might come closest to being accepted as truth. If he was truly aligned with the Powers That Be, I don't think he'd be saying things like "Everything will become clear," since there'd be nothing to clear up.

Or maybe he comes from a family of artists who were all responsible for creating falsified footage for the U.S. government to use to cause fear in the public. But probably not. I think the aliens themselves will be scarier, even without a giant invasion happening.

Find out one way or another whether these theories have anything to do with all the deer sightings in trailers when Disclosure Day hits theaters on June 12, 2026.

Humans have always had a fascination with dinosaurs — the great beasts that pre-dated us on this Earth — and these days you don’t need more than the Jurassic Park franchise box office numbers to prove it. Who better, then, to delve into the history than Steven Spielberg? The Dinosaurs is the second nature docuseries executive-produced by the filmmaker and narrated by Morgan Freeman for Netflix, and as it hits the 2026 TV schedule, critics are sharing their reviews.

The Dinosaurs follows 2023’s Life on Our Planet and will illustrate what the Earth may have looked like in prehistoric times, when dinosaurs ruled the land, sea and sky. According to Shawn Van Horn of Collider, they’ve never looked more real. That’s in large part thanks to Industrial Light & Magic’s effects and the emotional writing that gets us invested in their fight for survival. The critic rates it 8 out of 10, writing:

Alex Bear of RIOTUS says the four-part series covers hundreds of millions of years with ease, even injecting stories that are sure to pull at your heartstrings. The final episode that depicts the extinction event is where The Dinosaurs truly shines, Bear says, as it manages to convey the asteroid’s scale of destruction, unlike anything they’ve seen before. The critic grades it a B and says:

Jack Seale of The Guardian gives it 3 out of 5 stars, in part for its photorealistic visual effects, but Morgan Freeman’s voiceover could double as a relaxation tape and is the new Netflix series’ real draw. This critic’s biggest complaint is that it doesn’t offer much that amateur expert viewers won’t already know. In Seale’s words:

Greg Wheeler of The Review Geek agrees the docuseries fails to properly explore the science behind what we’re seeing or dig deeper into what’s changed about our understanding of the dinosaurs over the years. Wheeler gives The Dinosaurs a 6 out of 10, writing:

Anne Brodie of What She Said disagrees, calling the Netflix doc a “must-see.” The subject matter, the animation and, of course, Morgan Freeman’s voice combine for an experience Brodie says is genuinely worth your time. More from the review:

The critics seem pretty pleased with the Steven Spielberg-produced docuseries, with the biggest complaints being that it doesn’t dig deep enough into the science, instead focusing on getting us to invest emotionally in the lives of these creatures that lived so many millions of years before humans.

Each of The Dinosaurs’ four episodes is around an hour long and can be streamed now with a Netflix subscription.

How is it March already? Somehow, the first two months of the year are already gone, though they’ve given us some great new streaming movies and TV to enjoy along the way. March is certainly following suit, as, if you’re looking for something new to watch, there’s plenty to enjoy this week, from the long-awaited second season of a hit comedy to the newest look at one of the great classic characters of fiction.

Young Sherlock - March 4 (Prime Video)

Sherlock Holmes has been adapted for the screen as much as any character in fiction. Rarely, however, has it turned back the clock so far as to see Holmes before he became the world’s first consulting detective. Young Sherlock is produced by Guy Ritchie, who previously brought us two solid Holmes movies starring Robert Downey Jr.. Hero Fiennes Tiffin stars as Holmes, who is a student at Oxford when he makes friends with James Moriarty.

The Hunt - March 4 (Apple TV)

The Hunt is interesting because its road to streaming was an odd one. It was originally set to debut back in December for those with an Apple TV subscription, before the show was pulled following accusations of plagiarism. The series, which follows a battle of wills between two groups of men who come across each other while hunting in the woods, appears to have remained intact... though the credits have now been altered as they state the series is based on a book by Douglas Fairbairn.

Ted, Season 2 - March 5 (Peacock)

Seth MacFarlane’s Ted was something of a surprise hit when the first film debuted back in 2012. It did so well that a sequel film was quickly put in development. Those movies then spawned a series you can watch with a Peacock subscription. The first season came out over two years ago, so fans have been waiting a while for the continuation of this prequel story. But one has to imagine the laughs will continue.

Vladimir - March 5 (Netflix)

Vladimir is a new Netflix series based on the book of the same name and stars the once and future Mummy star Rachel Weisz as a woman who becomes obsessed with a co-worker. Do I know this show will be great? No, but I have to admit I’m more than a little curious after the show released one of the most suggestive poster images in recent memory. I’ll be using my Netflix subscription to see just what this one has to offer.

The Dinosaurs - March 6 (Netflix)

Steven Spielberg and dinosaurs? Yes please. Every generation needs a top tier documentary about the history of dinosaurs, and the newest comes in the part of a four part Netflix series that’s produced by Spielberg, and is narrated by Morgan Freeman. One can expect cutting edge animation and the most accurate scientific information we have about these magnificent creatures.

War Machine - March 6 (Netflix)

My Prime Video subscription has been waiting for the newest season of Reacher, as I’ve had a distinct lack of Alan Ritchson beating the crap out of people on my TV. The good news, however, is that over on Netflix this week, we get War Machine, a movie that dares to ask the question, what if Jack Reacher fought an alien mech? I can’t wait to find out the answer.

There’s plenty more where this came from with the rest of March getting ready to bring us Season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again and One Piece as well as the follow-up to Jury Duty and more.

Y’all, there’s a new alien movie from Steven Spielberg smack dab in the middle of the 2026 movie schedule, and I don’t think we’re talking enough about it. This is the filmmaker who made E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, two of the best sci-fi movies of all time! As the marketing for the movie Disclosure Day starts to roll out, there’s one aspect of the overall mysterious storyline that’s really starting to catch my attention.

What’s With All The Deers In Disclosure Day?

If you looked at the trailer for Disclosure Day, you must have noticed quite a few deer make an appearance in it. Yes, deer. In the opening scene of the first teaser, Josh O’Connor’s character notices a group of deer staring at him outside through a window. In another moment from the trailer, a young girl is seen looking at a deer (and a red cardinal) that both seem to be inside her room. And then there’s the fact that on one of the posters featuring O’Connor, an outline of a deer is prominently displayed. Check it out below:

And, Blunt’s character poster has an outline of the cardinal. What’s up with these animals being such big parts of Disclosure Day in what we know to be an alien movie? It beats me, but it has me scratching my head in a good way.

I’m Thoroughly Confused, But It Has Me More Intrigued For It

We know that Disclosure Day is based on an original idea by Spielberg and a script by David Koepp, who also penned scripts for some of the filmmaker’s other movies like Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The basic premise is that it’s about what happens in the aftermath of humanity discovering that extraterrestrial life officially exists by the government. The movie has an incredible cast aside from Blunt and O’Connor, including Colin Firth, Colman Domingo and Wyatt Russell.

In a climate where I think a lot of trailers give away way too much about what to expect from a movie, I’m really interested in Disclosure Day’s mystery and how deer will be involved in the whole thing. It seems pretty random at the moment, but it’s adding an element of intrigue because it feels like such an unexpected element to be in an alien movie.

And, what’s going on with the characters’ eyes? It seems like there are some tests that happen that change their eye color, and I wonder how that’s going to be connected to the storyline, because WTF?

Now, Domingo has teased that Disclosure Day has “so much heart” and asks the question of “how do we come together in our humanity?” following existential questions like aliens being among us. Perhaps nature will be a major part of how these extraterrestrials decide to communicate with humans?

Either way, I’m excited to experience a fresh concept from Spielberg on the subject of aliens after all the movies on the subject he’s done prior. My curiosity will certainly continue until Disclosure Day comes to theaters this June 12.

The death of James Van Der Beek was clearly a shock to both those who knew him and the millions of fans he made throughout his career. While his ongoing battle with cancer was known, nobody was expecting the news that he had passed away. Fans all over the world are expressing their love for the Dawson’s Creek star, and they’re also opening up their wallets to help his family in the aftermath.

Why James Van Der Beek’s Family Set Up a GoFundMe

A GoFundMe has been set up in James Van Der Beek's name to help his family financially recover from his illness. According to the donation page, the family depleted their resources to pay for the treatment that Van Der Beek was undergoing.

It’s also unlikely that Van Der Beek’s family was going to be seeing much additional income from his work in the coming years. Back in 2012, the actor told Today that there were no residuals from his work on Dawson’s Creek, by far his most well-known and successful role, unlike the cast of other popular shows. At that time, he got a role on the sitcom Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23, playing a fictionalized version of himself. The show was critically well-regarded but only lasted two seasons.

With savings gone and little expected in the future, the GoFundMe is dedicated to getting the actor's family back on their feet. The good news is that it’s doing exactly that, and some big names are answering the call.

Zoë Saldaña, Steven Spielberg, And More Are Helping Out

The GoFundMe asked for $1.5 million for the family, and it’s already blown past that goal and, as of this writing, is sitting at $2.1 million. The vast majority of donations are, like most GoFundMe results, small-dollar donations, anything from $10 to $100.

However, a few of them are much bigger donations, and from some pretty significant names. Steven Spielberg and his wife Kate Capshaw donated $10,000 as did Jonathan Chu, who appears to be Wicked director Jon M. Chu. Lyn Lear, the widow of the late TV producer Norman Lear, has donated $5,000.

Names like Zachary Quinto and Derek Hough have each donated $1,000. Zoë Saldaña may end up donating more than anybody however; she’s set up for a $2,500 donation, but one that will be given monthly, meaning ongoing support for the family of James Van Der Beek.

It’s wonderful to see so many turn out to help, and so many big names giving money to a good cause. It looks like James Van Der Beek’s wife and children will be just fine, thanks to the generosity of many strangers and a few names we all know.

Going almost back to the beginning of his career, Steven Spielberg has been a master at making great alien movies. Early in his career, he made two masterpieces, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. Then there was a lull until he returned with War of the Worlds in 2005. He even slipped some aliens into one of his biggest franchises with 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Now Spielberg’s back with another one on the 2026 movie schedule, Disclosure Day. I thought this would be a great time to look back at Spielberg’s previous movies and think about how the latest one might stack up.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Spielberg’s first foray into the genre came very early in his career with Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The movie was his follow-up to the huge hit that was Jaws, and the world was expecting a lot. He certainly delivered. The movie stars Richard Dreyfuss as Roy, a Midwestern electrical lineman who comes in contact with a UFO while investigating a widespread power outage.

Like so many of Spielberg’s films, Close Encounters was a massive hit when it was released in 1977, finishing third at the box office behind #2 Smokey and the Bandit and a mostly-forgotten film called... Star Wars. America was in the grip of sci-fi fever, and though Close Encounters is a much more personal movie than Star Wars, it scratched an only slightly different itch with its iconic scenes and heartfelt story. We’re almost 50 years removed from its release, and it still holds up remarkably well.

One interesting tidbit about the movie is that Dreyfuss was not Spielberg’s first choice for Roy. Initially, he tried to woo Steve McQueen to play the part, but McQueen turned him down, saying he wasn’t right for the role. Dreyfuss, meanwhile, lobbied for the part after working on Jaws with the director. Still, other big names had to say no before Spielberg agreed, including Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino. It’s safe to say that in the end, Dreyfuss was the perfect choice all along.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

Five years later, after having box office success with Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, Spielberg came back to aliens with one of his best movies ever, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. If you weren’t around in 1982, just know that the movie was a complete pop culture phenomenon. It’s hard to explain just how huge E.T. was, except to say that when it was all said and done, it was the highest-grossing movie at the box office of all time. Between June 1982 and October 1982, E.T. was either #1 or #2 in the box office rankings.

By the time it finally closed, it had surpassed Star Wars as the all-time box office champion. It held the record for the next 11 years until it was surpassed by another Spielberg classic, Jurassic Park, in 1993. The movie has been released multiple times, adding to the total each time. It even caused profits to jump handsomely for Hershey’s with the inclusion of Reese’s Pieces. Spielberg had solidified his spot at or near the top of Hollywood’s all-time director’s list, a list he would be on even if it had been his last film. It wasn’t his last film, of course. It wasn’t even his last alien film.

Interestingly, the original idea for E.T. was for it to be a horror movie. Spielberg initially wrote a follow-up to Close Encounters called Night Skies. That project never really came together, but ideas from it would spawn not only E.T., but Poltergeist and Gremlins. To call that time in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s an artistically fruitful one for Spielberg is the ultimate understatement!

War Of The Worlds

More than two decades after E.T., after successes like the aforementioned Jurassic Park, along with seminal movies like Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List, and my favorite, Catch Me if You Can, among many others, Spielberg teamed up with Tom Cruise for 2005’s War of the Worlds. It was a brand new take on the classic story by sci-fi pioneer/author H. G. Wells.

Though War of the Worlds isn’t the cultural touchstone that E.T. has become, it was still a wildly successful movie, taking in more than $600 million at the box office that summer. If I’m honest, I’m still a little partial to the 1953 adaptation of the story, but that one certainly feels dated. And like most Spielberg movies, his version with Cruise does seem more timeless, looking back a couple of decades now.

Spielberg’s War of the Worlds certainly holds up better than the abomination of an adaptation that Amazon released last year, starring Ice Cube and his webcam (as the Razzies put it). That movie will always be bad. It’s incredible how timeless all of Spielberg’s movies are, except, perhaps, the final entry on this list.

Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull

You know, I almost hesitated to even include Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on this list. Not just because it’s the worst entry in that iconic franchise by a mile, but because the aliens only make an appearance towards the tail end. As a child of the ‘70s who grew up in the ‘80s and came of age in the ‘90s, it pained me to see what had become of Indy and Spielberg with this one.

Honestly, I’ve only seen it once, and that was when it was first released in theaters in 2008. While I’ve tried a couple of times to revisit it, I just can’t. But there are technically aliens involved, so it had to be a part of this list. I’m at a loss here; I really don’t know what to say about it other than I hate it. It’s the only Steven Spielberg movie I never want to watch again (well, and Schindler’s List, but that’s because it’s almost too good at ripping out my heart).

We have no idea how good Disclosure Day will be, but given Spielberg’s track record, I am confident in predicting it will be leagues better than Crystal Skull. Of course, it’ll be a few more months before I can confirm that.

Let's face it, dinosaurs will always be cool, so a docuseries focused on the prehistoric beings is never a bad idea. But this one, which arrives on the Netflix schedule in March, comes from Steven Spielberg and the team behind Life on Our Planet, and based on the trailer for The Dinosaurs, it looks like those of us with a Netflix subscription are in for something really special.

Once upon a time, it seemed impossible that someone could turn Michael Crichton's dinosaur-focused thrill-ride of a novel into a worthy live-action movie adaptation, and yet, Steven Spielberg found a way. More than thirty years later, Jurassic Park is still a film beloved by generations both for the story it tells and for the thrilling way it brings dinosaurs to life on screen. We might've also doubted that a documentary series about dinosaurs could fully capture what the planet might have looked like during their reign, but from the trailer below, it appears Spielberg, Dan Tapster, Keith Scholey, Alastair Fothergill, and others may have found a way, once again.

"Witness the rise and the fall of nature's greatest empire." 

It's an ambitious tale to try to tell in a documentary, especially factoring in the visuals on display here. As we see in the thrilling trailer, this documentary -- directed by Nick Shoolingin-Jordan, with Dan Tapster, Keith Scholey, and Alastair Fothergill serving as showrunners -- is delivering its own exciting visual imagining of what Earth may have looked like during the time of the dinosaurs. Whether they roamed the earth together across varying climates and landscapes, or faced off against one another in what had to have been ground-shaking battles, it's a sight that's almost impossible to fathom... almost.

While Shoolingin-Jordan directed the 4-episode series, Steven Spielberg, Keith Scholey, Darryl Frank, and Justin Falvey are serving as executive producers. Oh yeah, and did I mention Morgan Freeman is narrating? The beloved actor and famed documentary narrator, who also voiced Life on Our Planet, is back to guide us through this new documentary (dinomentary series? Docusaurus? We can work on that.)

Each of the four episodes is expected to be an hour long, and Netflix has The Dinosaurs rating set at TV-PG, mentioning "violence" and "fear" as the reasons, which sounds about right for a dinosaur-related documentary (at least one that's not about dinosaurs named cute things like Little Foot and Ducky). So while this might be a fun documentary to watch with the whole family, parental guidance is suggested, especially if you have young ones who might not be ready for dino carnage and chaos, even in an educational context.

What To Watch While You Wait

The Dinosaurs hits Netflix in about a month, but if your appetite is piqued for educational documentaries, Netflix has some other options.

• Stream Our Universe (2022) on Netflix.
• Stream Our Planet (and Our Planet II) on Netflix.
• Stream Life on Our Planet on Netflix. 
• Stream Our Oceans on Netflix.

And if you're here because you're a Jurassic Park fan, be sure to check out the Jurassic Park episode of Season 2 of The Movies that Made Us.

You can set a reminder for The Dinosaurs for its March 6 premiere on Netflix.

I’ll be honest, Steven Spielberg becoming an EGOT winner is not something I ever had on my Hollywood bingo card. Not because he isn’t deserving. I mean, the man has been hitting it out of the park and making hit films for more than fifty years. Obviously he is deserving, yet I was still rather surprised. But here we are, the director has officially joined the rare EGOT club, and a few famous names are celebrating the moment.

The reaction across the industry has been nothing but celebratory, with actors, musicians, and Broadway veterans clearly delighted to see Spielberg finally complete the EGOT. One of the most enthusiastic responses came from Rachel Zegler, whose career took off after she was cast as Maria in West Side Story. While the film struggled at the box office, it was critically well-received and changed Zegler’s life overnight, and she’s never been shy about how much working with Spielberg meant to her. She marked the moment by sharing a photo of the two on her Instagram Stories, alongside a simple, heartfelt message:

The Snow White actress has spoken before about how formative that experience was for her as an artist, so the Minority Report director’s EGOT win clearly feels personal for her. There’s something fitting about it, too. West Side Story may not have been one of the influential filmmaker’s biggest commercial hits, but it played a defining role in launching the next phase of his creative legacy through performers like Zegler.

Another voice celebrating the milestone is Jennifer Hudson, who understands just how rare that achievement is. Hudson hit a major career milestone in 2022, joining the EGOT club, which makes her reaction especially meaningful. Speaking with PEOPLE, she didn’t hide her excitement about welcoming the ET creator into that exclusive group:

When red carpet hosts jokingly asked Hudson if she had any advice for the newly minted EGOT winner, she leaned into the moment with a perfectly self-aware response. She added:

Spielberg’s path to EGOT status is genuinely unique. His Tony Award came from producing A Strange Loop, while his Emmy wins span multiple formats. He earned his Oscars in 1994 and 1999 for Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan, respectively. The final piece fell into place with a Grammy for Music by John Williams, the documentary he produced honoring his longtime collaborator. At 79, Spielberg completed the rare awards sweep not by chasing trophies, but by continuing to tell stories and uplift the artists he’s worked with for decades.

That’s why the industry response feels so warm. For actors, musicians, and theater artists who grew up on Jaws, E.T., Jurassic Park, and Schindler’s List, the Hollywood staple’s work was influential and foundational. Many of them wouldn’t be doing what they do without his films lighting the way.

So yes, Steven Spielberg becoming an EGOT winner caught me off guard. But watching people like Rachel Zegler, Jennifer Hudson, and others celebrate the moment makes it feel completely right.

For anyone curious to see the project that completed the sweep, Music by John Williams is now streaming for viewers with a Disney+ subscription.

Odessa A'zion has spent the last few years as a rising star – for example, playing the lead role in 2022’s Hellraiser and having a regular guest role on Ghosts – but she really popped at the end of 2025. In addition to having a role on the new HBO series I Love LA, she has earned rave reviews for her turn in writer/director Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme. The last few weeks have been an exciting whirlwind for the actress, but it wasn’t really until a special encounter earlier this month at the Golden Globes did she realize the immensity of what is presently happening in her life.

While A’zion didn’t see her acclaimed turn in Marty Supreme result in a 2026 Academy Award nomination, she has gotten a consolation prize of sorts in the form of a profile in The Hollywood Reporter. The piece digs into the full span of her career to this point and the moment she is presently having, but one of the best tidbits is her quote about the moment when she recognized the significance of her recent success. She told the reporter,

This is universally relatable, right? Steven Spielberg is renowned the world over as one of the greatest filmmakers to ever touch a camera, and if happen you find yourself in a room with him, it instantly inspires the internal debate of, “Do I go over there and say hi to him? Do I tell him what his work has meant to me?” But Odessa A’zion didn’t have that because he was the one approaching and asking if it was okay to talk to her. Epic.

As for the rest of the Golden Globes 2026 ceremony, Team Marty Supreme missed out on the “Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy” and “Best Screenplay” prizes, but the film didn’t walk away from the event empty handed, as Timothée Chalamet won the award for “Best Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy” (and he has some pretty good odds on him to win the correlating prize at the Oscars in March).

In Marty Supreme, A'zion plays Rachel Mizler, a married childhood friend of Chalamet’s Marty Mauser who gets knocked up by the protagonist in the movie’s opening scene. She doesn’t get to tell him about the baby until he returns to New York months later, and efforts to try and help her get thrown in the mix of major issues that he has to deal with while he desperately tries to find a way to raise enough money to fly to Tokyo and participate in the next table tennis world championship. It’s a great character with some big twists and drama to play with, and the actress is phenomenal in her part.

A'zion clearly has a big future ahead of her – though that future won’t include an adaptation of author Holly Brickley’s novel Deep Cuts, as she dropped out of the film after realizing that the role should go to an actress of Mexican descent. Her upcoming slate includes a voice role in the animated Stranger Things: Tales from '85 and the original horror film For The Night from first-time writer/director James Kimball.

Guillermo del Toro is one of our greatest living film directors. I don’t think that’s a particularly hot take. However, just because he’s great doesn’t mean that he is perfect or cannot take criticism. In fact, it turns out he knows just who to call to help make his movies ever better: all the other greatest living directors.

Speaking with Variety, del Toro was asked how he handled the final cut of his films, or if making some of the film's edits was difficult for him. Oftentimes, editing decisions come from the response of test audiences, but the Frankenstein director revealed that he doesn’t test his movies. Instead, he shows his films to his friends. As he put it:

One might think that you’d only hear what you want if you show your movie to your friends. However, in this case, Guillermo del Toro’s “friends” are other great directors. Del Toro's friendship with James Cameron is well known, and there has been discussion of the "Secret Film Club" before, though it's apparently bigger than we thought. It also turns out that a particular part of Frankenstein is missing on the word of the Avatar filmmaker. Del Toro explained…

I already wanted to be Guillermo del Toro’s friend, but now that desire has exploded because sitting in a room full of some of the greatest filmmakers ever and hearing them debate the finer points of their own films sounds like absolute heaven. The fact that these men are allowed to be brutal with each other’s work, but can be professional about it isn’t easy, but it must lead to incredible conversations about filmmaking.

Apparently all James Cameron had to say was that a few minutes of the Frankenstein story didn’t work or weren’t necessary, and the seven minutes of film, which was still beautiful, were gone. While I certainly want to know more about these seven minutes, I also can't argue that Frankenstein ever felt like anything was missing.

Guillermo del Toro says he doesn’t second-guess his friends. When they tell him to do something with a movie, he does it. He figures if he’s going to ask the question, he needs to listen to the answer. The director said…

Considering that all of these directors combined have made far more great movies than poor ones, and there are plenty of Oscars between them to prove it, it seems this process of working together to improve their work really accomplishes its goals.

Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day is one of the most-anticipated upcoming movies of 2026, and Colman Domingo just got me even more excited about it. The actor was talking up the feature on the 2026 Golden Globes red carpet, and his comments about Steven Spielberg has me thinking this movie has the vibe of the director's classics.

Domingo is not a nominee in the 2026 Golden Globes, but CinemaBlend's live blog caught him on E! all the same, as we track all the action of the night from start to finish. The actor talked about his best moment of being in Disclosure Day, and name-dropped the tremendous cast in the process:

What a strong statement from Colman Domingo, who makes it sound like Steven Spielberg is just as excited to be making a movie now as he was when he made Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and plenty of other great movies. Does his enthusiasm for movies and casts mean that Disclosure Day is destined for greatness?

The director is known for making more hits in Hollywood than misses, and he has a diverse track record when it comes to science fiction. When I watched the Disclosure Day trailer, I definitely got Close Encounters vibes from it. I also felt the ominous sense of danger like in War of the Worlds, and a creepiness that can't be denied. I feel like I'm going to have nightmares of those noises after rewatching the trailer, so I'm going to stop doing that until the movie comes out.

A strong cast also helps, and as Colman Domingo illustrated, Disclosure Day has some big stars attached. Emily Blunt and Colin Firth are obvious standouts, and Josh O'Connor is having a real moment in Hollywood, hot on the heels of an electric performance in Wake Up Dead: A Knives Out Mystery. O'Connor also had nothing but great things to say about working with Steven Spielberg, so hopefully all those good vibes brought out some memorable performances from all involved.

The icing on the cake might be that Steven Spielberg reteamed with screenwriter David Koepp, with whom he previously worked on films like Jurassic Park and War of the Worlds. Perhaps the reason Disclosure Day feels like one of Spielberg's classics is due to the fact that they have a lot of things in common with those past movies.

Disclosure Day is in theaters on June 12th, and we'll presumably get all the answers to any questions we have about the weird clicking sounds and body control. Hopefully the big twist is not that this entire thing is based on a true story.

When Disney bought Lucasfilm, it threw the franchise into overdrive, and between 2015 and 2019, we got five movies, nearly doubling the total number of Star Wars films made since 1977. And yet, since 2019, there’s been nothing on the big screen. Starting with the 2026 movie schedule, that all changes, as at least two Star Wars movies are definitely happening, and it appears that people who make movies, like Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg, are just as excited as the rest of us.

Star Wars: Starfighter director Shawn Levy revealed to The New York Times that not only does the cast have A-list stars like Ryan Gosling, but the likes of Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise have been visiting the set. Cruise even got dirty by getting behind a camera and jumping into the mud to film part of the movie. According to Levy…

Steven Spielberg has a long association with George Lucas, so it’s not surprising that he stopped by for a visit. He likely wanted to see what this new film would be doing with the franchise his friend launched almost 50 years ago. One imagines that Spielberg and Levy could have had one hell of a conversation about the past and future and Star Wars, and I would have loved to have heard that.

And then one day, Tom Cruise flew in on a helicopter.

Shawn Levy says that he suggested Tom Cruise pick up a camera and start filming as a joke, but Cruise took him seriously, ending up “up to his ankles in mud and pond water” to film a lightsaber battle. And honestly, does it shock anybody that Tom Cruise, a guy who throws himself off mountains, would just jump at the chance to shoot part of a Star Wars movie?

According to the story, Cruise was only there visiting and ended up behind a camera for fun, so don’t expect to see him appear in Star Wars: Starfighter (although we’ve seen more than our share of Star Wars celebrity cameos in the past, so anything is possible). But now, when we’re all watching Starfighter in 2027, and you watch the big lightsaber fight, you’ll know who to thank for it. Levy continues…

It’s pretty cool. I’m already excited for Star Wars: Starfighter, and while the movie is over a year away, we’re only a few months from the release of The Mandalorian and Grogu that will mark Star Wars' official return to theaters. It’s about to be a very exciting time to be a Star Wars fan again, for both the very famous and everybody else, too.

Jurassic Park is undoubtedly one of Steven Spielberg's best movies, and has also influenced countless projects that followed after going from stop motion to CGI. The movie was a wild success that kickstarted a franchise that's still going on with Jurassic World Rebirth (which is streaming with a Peacock subscription). But Laura Dern recently got honest about the doubts she and the rest of the OG cast had while filming that beloved blockbuster back in the day. Lets break it all down.

While we know that Jurassic Park is one of the best sci-fi movies of all time, actually filming it was a bit of a gamble. Laura Dern recently appeared on The Graham Norton Show, where she got real about the concerns she had while bringing Ellie Sattler to life. She told the story about her first day shooting, saying:

Honestly, points were made. Jurassic Park was the first movie of its kind, where CGI was used to add spectacle and stakes to its scenes. So for Dern and company, they were acting opposite nothing, and seemingly felt awkward as a result. Of course, we all know just how successful the renderings of the movie's dinosaurs would ultimately be in the theatrical cut.

Laura Dern celebrates Jurassic Park's legacy, but actually filming the original movie was a leap of faith for the cast and crew alike. There was also a learning curve for the OGs, specifically as they tracked dinos that weren't actually there. The Oscar-winning actress went on:

Of course, she was wrong. In the end, Jurassic Park was a huge success, kickstarting a franchise which still remains a beloved part of the pop culture landscape to this day. There might have been a learning curve for everyone involved, but those efforts definitely worked out. And to this day Ellie is one of Dern's most iconic characters.

As previously mentioned, Jurassic World Rebirth was released last year, and was one of the highest grossing movies of the year. It remains to be seen if a sequel is ordered, but it seems like a logical choice. Alas, we shouldn't expect it as part of the 2026 movie release list.

It’s been a few years since the filmmaking maestro Steven Spielberg graced fans with a new big-screen production. However, it’s been known for some time now that he’s been working on an upcoming sci-fi flick slated for the 2026 movie schedule. Up until now, that project’s title hadn’t been revealed but, via its newly released first trailer, we know it’s called Disclosure Day. This initial batch of footage seems to indicate that Spielberg is spinning a darker extraterrestrial tale and, at this point, I’m already all in.

This trailer for Disclosure Day is the definition of a teaser, as it quickly throws viewers into what looks like a dire situation, without going too deep into specifics. Based on what's shown, it would seem that aliens (or some other kind of otherworldly entities) are trying to make their presence known to humanity. However, it appears the powers that be are attempting to cover that up from the general public. Yet one character (played by Josh O’Connor) is set on disclosing the hidden information to the public.

On the one hand, this feature seems to have a lot of the trappings associated with extraterrestrial-based films, from crop circles to a public message being broadcast across the airwaves. (I already can’t stop thinking about that scene of Emily Blunt’s character speaking that alternate language.) Still, if there’s anything that should be known about Spielberg is that there’s more to his work than meets the eye. There’s some interesting iconography here, including the shots of those gathered woodland creatures.

It would be an understatement to say that some of the best Spielberg movies are stories about beings from outer space like Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Those two films are very different from each other, and Disclosure Day feels like something else entirely. I love that it feels a bit more grim but at the same time, it’s so bleak that there’s no room for hope.

The last several months have seen information about Steven Spielberg’s UFO film, which is written by Jurassic Park’s David Koepp, slowly reach the surface. What’s long been known, though, is that the Oscar winner assembled a stellar cast for this production. Aside from the previously mentioned Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor (who spoke about working with Spielberg), Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Wyatt Russell and Colman Domingo. That’s certainly an impressive roster, and I can’t wait to see the work the cast puts in.

Marketing for the forthcoming science fiction flick seems to be ramping up as well, with this trailer being the latest (and biggest) piece of that campaign thus far. Last week, billboards for the movie began to surface, and they featured a teasy and creepy image. It’s hard not to wonder how Universal Pictures’ marketing team will capitalize on the alien theme moving forward but, if they really get creative, this could be a fun advertisement campaign.

Regardless of how those plans turn out, though, I’ll be seated (as others likely will be) to see what Steven Spielberg has in store for this movie. Even after all these years, the man hasn’t missed a beat when it comes to moviemaking, and I’m confident that his latest alien movie will be a sight to behold.

Disclosure Day is set to open in theaters on June 12, 2026. I’m excited about what else we may possibly learn about the movie in the months to come.

Are you looking forward to Steven Spielberg’s next movie? If you’re reading this article, chances are you at least have a passing interest in what the iconic filmmaker will be delivering to the 2026 movies schedule next summer. What makes this next Spielberg movie particularly intriguing is that we still don’t know what it’s called or what it will be about, although our first look at this forthcoming cinematic sci-fi tale is certainly creepier than I expected.

Thanks to DiscussingFilm, we can see this mysterious tease for the next Steven Spielberg movie that was presented in Time’s Square and came with the tagline “All will be disclosed.” Check it out:

Yeah, that eye on a face obscured by shadows is giving off an ominous vibe, perhaps indicating this won’t be one of the more heartwarming entries on Spielberg’s filmography. It’ll make for quite the tonal shift after the beloved director delivered his West Side Story remake and The Fabelmans to audiences in the last several years. And while Spielberg is obviously no stranger to science-fiction, from Close Encounters of the Third Kind to Ready Player One, it almost feels like this new movie could have some horror or thriller elements as well. I look forward to seeing more of this unique marketing.

The potentially good news is that we may not have to wait much longer to finally get an idea of what this movie is about. As mentioned in the post, its first trailer will reportedly screen with Avatar: Fire and Ash next week. That will put it in good company with the six-minute prologue for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, which hits theaters one month after Spielberg’s flick.

One thing we do know plenty about regarding Steven Spielberg’s next movie is its cast. The ensemble lineup of actors includes Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo and Wyatt Russell, among many others. Principal photography began at the end of this past February and, according to screenwriter David Koepp, wrapped in late May. This movie will also mark Spielberg’s 30th collaboration with composer John Williams.

Steven Spielberg’s mystery movie will arrive to the silver screen on June 12, 2026, the same day we’re getting Scary Movie 6. Other big movies coming out that month include Masters of the Universe, Toy Story 5 and Supergirl. In the meantime, you’re welcome to stream his version of West Side Story with a Disney+ subscription, while the semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans is currently only available to purchase digitally.

The world of theatrical exhibition has seen a massive shift in the time since the global pandemic. While there had always been something of a split between mass market blockbusters and more character-driven stories, these days even the seemingly guaranteed blockbusters are struggling at the box office, making it seem like the smaller films really have no place on the big screen, but Steven Spielberg doesn’t think so.

Steven Spielberg doesn’t have a project he directed on the 2025 movie schedule, but he did help produce Chloe Zhao’s new film, Hamnet, which is already expected to be a major awards contender. Speaking with THR, he says he’s fighting to make sure that movies like this one always have a place in theaters. He said theaters are…

Hamnet is a book-to-screen adaptation of the novel of the same name, and it is a fictionalized account of the loss of William Shakespeare’s only son. The film follows Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and his wife, Agnes (Jessie Buckley), and the impact the death may have had on their relationship, as well as its potential influence on the creation of Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.

Steven Spielberg is one of those directors who has been able to work on both sides of the fence. He made what is often called the first summer blockbuster in the original Jaws, and has made other four-quadrant hits like E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and Jurassic Park. He’s also made movies that have swept awards season, like Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan.

While some directors, like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, have lamented the hold that blockbusters have on theaters, they have been critical of Marvel movies and other big-budget spectacle films. Spielberg, who previously praised Top Gun: Maverick for “saving” movie theaters, isn’t doing that here. He’s not being critical of the films that are filling theaters, he's simply saying that can’t be all that’s available. He continued…

Hamnet has already debuted at film festivals and has been receiving very strong reviews. Whether word of mouth has been strong enough to generate a strong box office during the Thanksgiving weekend remains to be seen, but those who do see it will likely all be very happy that it can be seen in theaters.

It’s wild to think that The Goonies is Josh Brolin’s first movie. The movie, which you can watch with a Netflix subscription, was produced by Steven Spielberg, and it launched a bunch of careers. Many of the actors on the set were new to the industry. For Brolin, who had relentlessly auditioned for parts for years, it was almost too much to handle, as he explained recently in an interview about his first day on the job. Let’s just say it didn’t go well, and it led to an admonishment from Spielberg himself. Here’s what happened.

Brolin Couldn’t Stop Laughing

Whether it was nerves, excitement, or something else, when shooting began on The Goonies in the fall of 1984, Brolin could control his laughter. It got so bad that it ruined the early shoots. As the actor explained in an interview with Entertainment Tonight:

Breaking character on the set of Saturday Night Live may be endearing, but on the set of a movie like The Goonies, it isn’t going to go over well. In fact, it pretty much meant every take was unusable. As a producer and a veteran of some of the biggest hits ever up to that point, Spielberg had to step in. Brolin says:

Getting a stern talking to from a luminary like Spielberg had to be a pretty humbling experience. It’s also good advice, really, as making movies isn’t cheap and keeping yourself under control is obviously important. No doubt it’s advice that Brolin has taken to heart in the years since.

Brolin Learned A Lot From Spielberg

This isn’t the first time that Josh Brolin has talked about learning about the industry and his craft from the legendary filmmaker. Earlier this year, Brolin told Rob Lowe on his podcast, Literally! With Rob Lowe, that Spielberg told him he was overthinking his role when he was trying to find too much meaning in a particular scene. He relayed what Spielberg said to him:

Any actor would do well to heed the advice of Steven Spielberg, and Brolin seems especially appreciative of all that early advice.

Goonies never say die, and just like the kids in the movie, The Goonies doesn’t either. The movie, which despite not launching a franchise like others from its era, remains a beloved film for generations of people. There are even Lego sets dedicated to it. The fact that actors like Brolin, Sean Astin, Ke Huy Quan, Martha Plimpton, and Corey Feldman were all so early in their careers makes it not only one of the best movies of the ‘80s, but one of the most important.