Premiere - Disclosure Day: A Triumphant World Premiere for Steven Spielberg's New Sci-Fi Mystery

By Mulder, Paris, Le Grand Rex, 02 june 2026

Some premieres feel like mere promotional stunts, while others give the impression that you’re witnessing a true moment in cinema history. On tuesday, June 2, 2026, Paris’s legendary Grand Rex was transformed into the global headquarters of science fiction to host the world premiere of *Disclosure Day*, Steven Spielberg’s new film. Before a particularly enthusiastic audience, the American director took the stage at Europe’s largest movie theater alongside producer Kristie Macosko Krieger, screenwriter David Koepp, and actors Colman Domingo, Josh O’Connor, and Wyatt Russell. For nearly ten minutes, the team presented the feature film before the screening, in an electric atmosphere reminiscent of the heyday of international Hollywood blockbuster premieres. Seeing Steven Spielberg greet the Parisian audience in this iconic venue had a symbolic quality: nearly half a century after revolutionizing science fiction with Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the filmmaker returns today to his extraterrestrial obsessions with a film that seems to engage directly with his entire career.

With Disclosure Day, Steven Spielberg returns to a territory he knows better than anyone. From Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977, to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in 1982, and War of the Worlds in 2005, the director has never stopped questioning humanity’s place in the universe. Yet this time, the tone is radically different. Whereas Close Encounters was driven by wonder and hope, Disclosure Day seems to explore the more unsettling consequences of revealing a truth that some would prefer to keep hidden. The film follows a whistleblower on the run as a massive government conspiracy threatens to be exposed, with the ultimate stakes being what the film calls Disclosure Day—the day when the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence will be officially revealed to humanity. The film’s tagline, “What if we proved to you that we are not alone?”, perfectly sums up this more adult and paranoid take on the subject. According to production notes, the project was inspired in part by a 2017 New York Times article on the Pentagon’s secret program dedicated to unidentified aerial phenomena, an article that reportedly rekindled Steven Spielberg’s fascination with the subject.

One of the most fascinating anecdotes surrounding the film’s genesis concerns its writing process. While mulling over the project following the highly publicized U.S. Congressional hearings on unidentified aerial phenomena in 2023, Steven Spielberg reportedly began drafting the story directly on his cell phone, just as he had done several decades earlier while developing certain elements of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Producer Kristie Macosko Krieger recounts receiving increasingly detailed notes from the director on a daily basis until a 52-page document, written entirely on an iPhone, took shape. This draft was then entrusted to David Koepp, the filmmaker’s longtime collaborator on Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Particularly revealing of the project’s ambition, David Koepp stated that he produced no fewer than forty-two versions of the screenplay—the highest number of rewrites in his entire career. This fact alone attests to the exacting standards Steven Spielberg continues to impose on his productions after more than fifty years in the business.

The cast brings together several generations of talent around Emily Blunt, who plays Margaret Fairchild, a Kansas City weather anchor whose life is turned upside down when she finds herself confronted with secrets beyond anything she could have imagined. Alongside her, Josh O’Connor plays Daniel Kellner, a cybersecurity specialist linked to a mysterious organization called WARDEX, while Colin Firth portrays Noah Scanlon, the head of an organization that has allegedly been concealing evidence related to extraterrestrial visitors for decades. Colman Domingo brings his magnetic presence to the character of Hugo Wakefield, and Eve Hewson rounds out this prestigious cast in the role of Jane Blankenship. Rounding out this core cast are Wyatt Russell, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Tommy Martinez, Gabby Beans, Jeremy Shamos, Brandon Wilson, Priyanka Kedia, and Lora Lee Gayer. The ensemble gives the impression of a cast designed to balance emotion, dramatic credibility, and political intensity, much like the great paranoid thrillers of the 1970s to which David Koepp has often compared the film.

Visually, Disclosure Day brings together several of Steven Spielberg’s most trusted collaborators. Behind the camera is the indispensable Janusz Kamiński, the director’s artistic partner since Schindler’s List. The production design is by Oscar winner Adam Stockhausen, while the costumes were designed by Paul Tazewell, another Oscar winner recently noted for his exceptional work in musical cinema. Editing is handled by Sarah Broshar, who has become one of the filmmaker’s most important collaborators in recent years. But the announcement that has likely excited film fans the most is the return of John Williams, whose score marks his thirtieth collaboration with Steven Spielberg. Having scored Jaws, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, and The Fabelmans, the legendary composer is thus adding a new chapter to one of the greatest artistic partnerships in film history.

Filming took place between February and May 2025 under the working title Non-View, primarily in New York State, New Jersey, and the Atlanta area. Several scenes were filmed on the historic Cape May Seashore Lines railway and in Jersey City. As is often the case with Steven Spielberg, great attention was paid to the authenticity of the locations to reinforce the story’s realistic grounding. This realism is, in fact, one of the project’s most intriguing aspects. According to information revealed in the press kit, the science-fiction elements are based on actual research into unidentified aerial phenomena, the Roswell files, certain government programs, and numerous testimonies that have fueled public debate in recent years. The goal is clearly not to deliver a mere spectacular alien adventure, but to confront the viewer with a fundamental question: how would we react if we suddenly discovered that everything we thought we knew about our place in the universe was false?

Following this Paris world premiere, one thing is already clear: Disclosure Day is not just the new blockbuster of summer 2026. The film also seems to mark a new phase in Steven Spielberg’s exploration of the major themes that have run through his work since his early days. Between a fascination with the unknown, distrust of institutions, a quest for truth, and cosmic wonder, the director returns to his foundational themes with the experience and maturity gained over the course of an exceptional career. With the film set to open in France on June 10, 2026, ahead of its U.S. release on June 12, the extremely enthusiastic reception the team received at the Grand Rex already suggests that Disclosure Day could well become one of the major cinematic events of the year and perhaps one of Steven Spielberg’s most ambitious science-fiction projects in decades.

You can discover our photos in our Flickr page here and here

Synopsis : 
What if you found out we’re not alone? What if we showed you, proved it to you—would that scare you? People have a right to the truth. It belongs to seven billion people. Every second brings us closer to the inevitable… Disclosure Day.

Disclosure Day
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Written by David Koepp
Story by Steven Spielberg
Produced by Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg
Starring  Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo
Cinematography : Janusz Kamiński
Edited by Sarah Broshar
Music by John Williams
Production company : Amblin Entertainment
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date : June 10, 2026 (France), June 12, 2026 (United States)
Running time : 145 minutes

Photos : (1) @fannyrlphotography and (2,3,4) Boris Colletier / Mulderville
Video 4K : Boris Colletier / Mulderville