It’s worth remembering that Steven Spielberg has only actually made three movies about aliens—four, now, as he adds Disclosure Day to Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, E.T., and War Of The Worlds—which is surprising, in so far as the man certainly seems to think about the little bastards quite a bit. That includes a number of comments over the years about Spielberg’s belief in extraterrestrials—or maybe space-faring time travelers, he’s not actually sure—which, if nothing else, stands as a fine testament to the fact that you can have a functional and celebrated career at the very top of your industry while still having those kinds of thoughts kicking around in your head.
Take, for instance, comments Spielberg made this week, per Deadline, while on the promotional tour for Disclosure Day. Sure, there was all the usual Hollywood stuff, including a point where he made an oblique reference to Timothée Chalamet’s recent “opera and ballet” debacle, in regards to the importance of the theatrical experience. (While also being careful to be nice to Netflix, too; have we considered tapping Spielberg to play intergalactic diplomat?) Still, Spielberg can’t talk about his new movie about aliens hiding among us without letting folks know that he does, in fact, believe that aliens are hiding among us. “My feeling right now is this,” Spielberg said during an appearance at SXSW on Friday. “I don’t know any more than any of you do, but I have a very strong sneaking suspicion that we are not alone here on Earth right now. And I made a movie about that.”
Spielberg has noted on multiple occasions that he has never personally seen a UFO or alien, possibly because the wider galactic community just aren’t big 1941 fans. “Half of my friends have seen UFOS or UAPs,” Spielberg lamented during the panel. “Where’s the justice of that?”
Disclosure Day stars Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colman Domingo, and Colin Firth. The film, in which the existence of aliens in our midst apparently provokes widespread social unrest, opens on June 12.