Steven Spielberg just dropped two bombshells at SXSW 2026. He confirmed a Western movie is in active development, and he told a packed room in Austin that he believes aliens are already among us. For a filmmaker who has shaped how the world imagines both the frontier and the stars, these words hit different.
Spielberg Is Finally Making a Western Movie
After saying last year that the Western genre has “eluded him for decades,” Spielberg confirmed during a keynote conversation at SXSW that he is finally making one.1 His remarks came during a Hilton Austin panel in conversation with The Big Picture podcast’s Sean Fennessey.2
This is more than just something on the “maybe someday” wishlist. The filmmaker confirmed he is working on one currently.3
The Western “is gonna have horses, and there will be guns. But there will be no tropes. There are gonna be no stereotypes, no tropes.”3
Spielberg also said he hopes to shoot the film in Texas, though that may have been a wink to the audience, as SXSW takes place in Austin.1 He described Texas as his lucky charm.4
The Western is one of the last major American film genres Spielberg has never fully tackled. His Indiana Jones movies always carried the dust and bravado of frontier storytelling, and John Ford has been one of his greatest artistic inspirations. The Fabelmans even made that Ford connection impossible to miss. But a straight Western? That is new ground for the 79 year old legend.
Westerns certainly are not as popular as they once were, but shows like Yellowstone are huge right now, and it does feel like the right time for Spielberg to put his stamp on the genre.3
Steven Spielberg Western movie and Disclosure Day alien film SXSW 2026
Obama’s Alien Comments and Disclosure Day
The other big topic at SXSW was aliens. And Spielberg could not hide his excitement.
The film’s story of a government cover up of alien activity comes at a pertinent time, as former President Barack Obama recently discussed his own belief in aliens on Brian Tyler Cohen’s No Lie podcast. “They’re real, but I haven’t seen them,” Obama said in a speed round portion of the interview, before clarifying the aliens are “not being kept in Area 51.”5
Spielberg’s reaction was pure, unfiltered joy.
“When President Obama made that comment, I thought, ‘Oh my god, this is so great for Disclosure Day. This is amazing,'” he said.1
He noted that two days later, Obama stepped back the comments and said what he believed in was life in the cosmos. “Because no one should ever think that we are the only intelligent civilization in the entire universe.”1
After the remark generated headlines globally, the former president clarified his comments with a statement shared to his Instagram account. “Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there. But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we’ve been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us.”6
But for Spielberg, the conversation only deepened his own conviction.
“We Are Not Alone Here on Earth Right Now”
Spielberg did not hold back on his personal beliefs. This was not a rehearsed press line. It felt deeply personal.
“I don’t know 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.”7
He thinks aliens could have been here anywhere from 80 years to 2,000 years.7
“Half my friends have seen UFOs, now called UAPs,” Spielberg said. “I haven’t. I made a movie called Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I haven’t even had a close encounter of the first or second kind. Where’s the justice of that?”5
Spielberg was “reinvigorated” to return to the world of UFOs by a 2017 New York Times article about the Pentagon’s UFO program and the possibility of a government coverup.5 These events ultimately compelled Spielberg to create the story for Disclosure Day in 2023, which he then handed over to screenwriter David Koepp.7
Here is what we know about Disclosure Day so far:
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Director | Steven Spielberg |
| Screenwriter | David Koepp (story by Spielberg) |
| Cast | Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, Eve Hewson, Wyatt Russell |
| Release Date | June 12, 2026 |
| Distributor | Universal Pictures |
| Format | Theaters and IMAX |
| Composer | John Williams (30th collaboration with Spielberg) |
| Filming Locations | New York, New Jersey, Atlanta |
If the first full trailer is any indication, Disclosure Day is going to be big. The preview shows Josh O’Connor’s character stealing government secrets about alien life and going on the run.8 Emily Blunt’s meteorologist begins inexplicably speaking in tongues while on air. The plan is to become a whistleblower and tell those secrets to all, something Colin Firth’s character intends to stop.9
Spielberg Takes a Shot at Chalamet and Defends the Arts
The alien talk and the Western were not the only moments that sparked a reaction from the crowd. Spielberg also took a subtle dig at Oscar nominee Timothee Chalamet.
Chalamet has come under fire recently for joking that ballet and opera are dying during Variety and CNN’s town hall conversation between him and Matthew McConaughey.10
Spielberg gestured to the plethora of art forms that usher in communal gatherings with a little nod to Chalamet’s “ballet-gate” comment. “It happens in movies, it happens at concerts, and it happens in ballet and opera, by the way.” The comment was met with thunderous applause.11
On the topic of AI in filmmaking, he clarified that he does not oppose technological advancement but does not support AI replacing human creativity. “I am not for AI if it replaces a creative individual,” he stated.4
“I’ve never used AI on any of my films yet. We have a writer’s room. All the seats are occupied,” he remarked, drawing applause from the audience.4
Why This SXSW Moment Matters for Cinema
At 79, Steven Spielberg is not slowing down. He is actually expanding. A trope free Western from the man who gave us Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan and Jaws could redefine how Hollywood approaches the genre. And Disclosure Day, arriving June 12, promises to be his most personal sci fi film in decades.
Spielberg told the Austin crowd, “I’ve always believed, even as a kid, that we weren’t alone. That just goes without saying. The big question is, are we alone now? And have we been alone over the last 80 years? And really, have we been alone over the last 3,000 years?”12
His film does consider “the social dislocation that could occur, theologically, if it would be announced that there’s not only evidence, there’s interaction that has been going on for decades that we are just now finding out about.”2
John Williams has been hired to compose the score for Disclosure Day, making this his thirtieth collaboration with Spielberg.13 That fact alone is enough to send chills down the spine of any movie lover.
Whether he is pointing a camera at the dusty frontier or the night sky, Spielberg remains the rare filmmaker who makes you feel something deep before the credits even roll. The Western is still a mystery. Disclosure Day is three months away. But one thing is clear after this SXSW panel: the man who taught the world to look up at the stars still has plenty left to say. Drop your thoughts in the comments below. What excites you more, Spielberg’s Western or Disclosure Day?
