MOBILE, ALABAMA — Filmmaker Steven Spielberg announced details regarding his upcoming science fiction thriller, "Disclosure Day," during a public discussion. The film is scheduled for release on June 12 in 70mm and IMAX formats.
Spielberg outlined the narrative premise of his new film. "'Disclosure Day' is about how, if somebody had the power and if somebody had possession of the entire archive of visual evidence of what's been happening for the last 80 years, what would happen if they decided to do a data dump across the entire world all at once? And the people who are trying to stop that data dump from happening, that is basically the core of this chase movie," Spielberg said. Emily Blunt portrays a Kansas City meteorologist named Margaret Fairchild in the film.
Spielberg directed the 1977 science fiction film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," which starred Richard Dreyfuss as the character Roy Neary. He discussed thematic elements of his latest project, noting the film takes the position of the believers, the curious, and those deeply affected by the phenomenon. He said the movie also examines the position of the church and what such events might do to fundamental beliefs.
He discussed audience perspectives on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), stating that while he cannot speak for the entire audience, there are certain things that unite people across cultural and political spectrums regarding the phenomenon. Spielberg stated that he has never personally experienced a paranormal event, but expressed his belief regarding extraterrestrial visitation. "Based on the circumstantial evidence of everything that I've gathered throughout my whole life, everybody I've listened to and every documentary I've ever watched and all the testimonies in Congress that I've heard, I absolutely think that they have been here, and they are here. And who knows, maybe they've always been here," Spielberg said.
Spielberg recalled that his father woke him at age five or six in New Jersey to observe the Perseids meteor shower. He began drafting the screenplay for "Disclosure Day" digitally using a smartphone and tablet before printing the material, noting that his handwriting is too bad to write manually. "Disclosure Day" marks the 34th feature film directed by Spielberg.