Could Disclosure Day Be the Secret Continuation of Close Encounters?
The combination of director Steven Spielberg and UFOs has previously brought us Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and War of the Worlds. (Not to mention Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.) This year, Spielberg returns to the subject matter with his latest event film, Disclosure Day, which is set to reach theatres on June 12th – and even though we haven’t seen much from the movie yet, promotional material has already stirred up speculation that this could be a secret follow-up of sorts to Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
The Facts
The official press release for Disclosure Day reads:
Universal Pictures is proud to release a new original event film created and directed by Steven Spielberg. The film stars SAG winner and Oscar® nominee Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer, A Quiet Place), Emmy and Golden Globe winner Josh O’Connor (Challengers, The Crown), Oscar® winner Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, Kingsman franchise), Eve Hewson (Bad Sisters, The Perfect Couple) and two-time Oscar® nominee Colman Domingo (Sing Sing, Rustin).
Based on a story by Spielberg, the screenplay is by David Koepp, whose previous work with Spielberg includes the scripts for Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Combined, those films earned more than $3 billion worldwide. Koepp also wrote the script for 2025’s Jurassic World Rebirth.
Disclosure Day is produced by five-time Academy Award® nominee Kristie Macosko Krieger (The Fabelmans, West Side Story) and by Spielberg for Amblin Entertainment. The executive producers are Adam Somner and Chris Brigham.
The Speculation
Whether it’s connected to his previous alien stories or not, Spielberg revisiting the concept of UFOs and alien visitations (without the involvement of Indiana Jones this time) is already enough to get fans excited. In a way, it provides book-ends for his career; Close Encounters of the Third Kind was one of his early feature films, and Disclosure Day could be the last time (or one of the last times) the 79-year-old filmmaker deals with these ideas – unless he’s planning to go on an alien movie streak and we haven’t heard about it yet.
But there’s one shot in the teasers we’ve seen that has fans wondering if this story is directly connected to Close Encounters: it’s a shot of a UFO, which looks eerily similar to the spacecraft seen in Spielberg’s 1977 hit.
Dozens of people saw the UFOs in Close Encounters, but the film focused on just a few of them. Ordinary people witnessing extraordinary, live-changing events. The ending seemed to indicate that the entire world was about to know about our alien visitors – and Disclosure Day is the follow-up to that idea, digging into what it would be like if the world did become aware that aliens exist. Not only flying around in UFOs, but also, from the looks of it, hiding amongst us. Spielberg’s story could acknowledge that the events of Close Encounters set humanity on the path toward disclosure, and now Disclosure Day is showing us the consequences.
Close Encounters captured the awe of first contact. Disclosure Day looks to examine the curiosity, fear, and existential questions that would follow. Thinking aliens exist and wanting to see the proof firsthand is one thing. Knowing for sure that they exist? That’s when things can get really creepy.
Of course, the stories could be entirely separate and Spielberg just liked the UFO design in Close Encounters of the Third Kind so much that he decided to bring it back. But for now, fans are having fun imagining Disclosure Day as a secret sequel, an idea that turns the movie into more than just another a sci-fi thriller. It could be a continuation of a story that has fascinated them for nearly 50 years.
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