Steven Spielberg will be making a UFO movie based on an original idea with a David Koepp script

[Andy 5,005]

Steven Spielberg will be making a UFO movie based on an original idea with a David Koepp script. (Variety)

 

Will this bring Johnny back to the scoring stage?

 

 

[Bellosh 3,811]

Dude hell yeah this is great news 

[Andy 5,005]

Night Skies, perhaps?

8 hours ago, Andy said:

“I want to keep learning and discovering and scaring the shit out of myself, and sometimes the shit out of you,” Spielberg added. “I gotta get back to some of those earlier scarier movies, but that’s another story for later on.”

Berlin 2023 Lifetime Achievement Speech

 

 

 

[Holko 10,020]

Why can't he stick to a good writer?

[Schilkeman 1,239]

As far as I'm concerned, he's batting .750 for Spielberg movies. 

[Brónach 1,305]

another Koepp...

[Sweeping Strings 2,565]

6 hours ago, Andy said:

Night Skies, perhaps?

 

 

Having given us probably the ultimate 'benevolent alien' movie in E.T. I'd certainly be interested in Spielberg bringing us one about the opposite sort.   

[Jurassic Shark 12,818]

5 hours ago, Holko said:

Why can't he stick to a good writer?

 

That's the scary part.

[mstrox 6,818]

4 hours ago, Sweeping Strings said:

Having given us probably the ultimate 'benevolent alien' movie in E.T. I'd certainly be interested in Spielberg bringing us one about the opposite sort.   

He did War of the Worlds - hard to get more malevolent than that.

[Sweeping Strings 2,565]

6 minutes ago, mstrox said:

He did War of the Worlds - hard to get more malevolent than that.

Maybe this time round, they'll be resistant to Earth germs. EEP! 

[Naïve Old Fart 10,238]

David Koepp? Original?

 

[A24 4,514]

 

Doesn't Spielberg check IMDb? Most of the movies Koepp has worked on end up being 6/10 movies. JP is one of the few exceptions. 

[Jurassic Shark 12,818]

He's clearly a misunderstood genius. Spielberg is the man who can make sense of him!

[Edmilson 8,539]

He wrote the shitty Mummy reboot starring Tom Cruise, Indy 4, the Dan Brown/Tom Cruise movies... lmao

 

Seems like his best scripts (Jurassic Park, M: I 1) are all in the past.

[Nick1Ø66 5,615]

Hmmmm. This is the type of UFO story I can see later-day Spielberg telling...he's often spoken about how, when he made CE3K, that version of himself would have flown away on the Mothership, but later in life, as a husband and father, he said he wouldn't.  So I always thought it would be interesting to see a film about Roy Neary returning to Earth after decades away with the CE3K aliens (i.e. ET). I mean, the guy had a wife and kids and essentially abandoned them, and it would be interesting to see how he, and they'd, react to his homecoming and how he'd adjust to life on a completely unrecognizable Earth. Dreyfuss is probably too old for the part, but you could recast for a younger Roy Neary (proving Einstein right).

[GerateWohl 4,938]

1 hour ago, Edmilson said:

Seems like his best scripts (Jurassic Park, M: I 1) are all in the past.

All his scripts that we already know are in the past now.

[Muad'Dib 1,849]

I think the reason Spielberg keeps returning to Koepp is that he's an efficient and quick writer -and they seem to get along quite well. I'm not sure Spielberg's had any other long-term relationship with a writer... Tony Kushner comes to mind, but that's been more sporadic and started in the mid-2000's or so.

 

I don't think Spielberg's looking for a presitigous writer with Koepp. Of course he's very prolific, so he could be considered prestigious in some other way; but I'm guessing that he's easy to work with, he writes fast and is someone Spielberg knows how he works.

 

All that said, the project sounds intriguing and potentially could be a lot of fun. Here's hoping Steven tries something in that scary vibe it was quoted above.

[Jay 38,847]

Scheduled to release on May 15, 2026

 

https://variety.com/2024/film/news/steven-spielberg-next-movie-summer-2026-release-date-1236014435/

[filmmusic 2,137]

What does "event film" mean?

[Toillion 259]

9 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

What does "event film" mean?

It’s just an evolved version of blockbuster since the term blockbuster has become overused. 

[Not Mr. Big 4,719]

This will be released on the 10 year anniversary of The BFG

[John Dutton 7,218]

I have low expectations all around.

[Davis 2,758]

3 hours ago, filmmusic said:

What does "event film" mean?

An event film or event movie is a blockbuster film whose release itself is considered a major event.

 

It could be a highly anticipated sequel or a big budget film with state-of-the-art special effects or major stars generating considerable attention. Although it is subjective what is and what isn't considered an event movie, they are usually among the highest-grossing movies in their years of release and become a part of popular culture.

 

Steven Spielberg's Jaws from 1975 is the first film that was considered an event movie at the time of its release, but some sources also retroactively apply the term to earlier films such as The Birth of a Nation (1915), Gone with the Wind (1939), and Ben-Hur (1959). Examples more recent than Jaws include Spielberg's Jurassic Park, James Cameron's Titanic, Spider-Man and Avatar alongside the Star Wars, Harry Potter, and The Lord of the Rings films and The Dark Knight.

In the 2010s, other event movies include The Hunger Games, Frozen, Deadpool, and many films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in particular Avengers: Infinity War and 

Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: No Way Home. The last huge event film was Avatar: The Way of Water. 

- Wikipedia

 

 

 

[Not Mr. Big 4,719]

4 hours ago, Brock Lovett said:

I have low expectations all around.

Because it's not an FX+ original? 

[Edmilson 8,539]

6 hours ago, filmmusic said:

What does "event film" mean?

Means that it is a sequel to 1997's Event Horizon 

[Bellosh 3,811]

I predict Spielberg knocks this out of the park.

[Edmilson 8,539]

If somehow Williams is not able to score it (I truly hope he is, really do... But the future is uncertain), who would Spielberg turn to? I think he'll go to Alan Silvestri, the two of them seemed to have enjoyed working together on RP1. Maybe John Powell could also be a choice, he has the "John Williams Seal of Approval" after Solo.

 

Or maybe... Just maybe... Could this be the first Steven Spielberg/Hans Zimmer collaboration? 

[Bellosh 3,811]

Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor

 

Bring this movie to a whole new level

[John Dutton 7,218]

29 minutes ago, Bellosh said:

I predict Spielberg knocks this out of the park.

 

I'd like nothing more than that. I want Spielberg to do well and bring in not just the stuffy modern drama audiences who barely pay attention to his snoozefests (he just isnt a profitable director anymore), but also the riffraff like myself that just want him to make anything as enjoyable as even Hook or TLW (and the studios wouldn't mind the profits). He's been a disaster for some time now, and I'm sad to say it.

[Bellosh 3,811]

1 minute ago, Brock Lovett said:

 

I'd like nothing more than that. I want Spielberg to do well and bring in not just the stuffy modern drama audiences who barely pay attention to his snoozefests (he just isnt a profitable director anymore), but also the riffraff like myself that just want him to make anything as enjoyable as even Hook or TLW (and the studios wouldn't mind the profits). He's been a disaster for some time now, and I'm sad to say it.

 

I agree for the most part (bridge of spies prob his last truly great movie imo)

 

But the fact that he wants to go back to UFOs is why I think he might do something special. I always figured it was something he was done with.

[mrbellamy 6,645]

The BFG and Ready Player One are the only two since Indy 4 where I felt a little embarrassed for him while watching. I don't hate them or anything but even Tintin which I don't totally love either had a lot more of his chutzpah. The only thing in RPO where I kinda felt him in there was the backwards driving thing. 

 

I think he's been way more on his game in the dramas. The opening of Bridge of Spies is fantastic, I wouldn't call the movie a grand slam but it's really good. War Horse has some amazing stuff but it is his most cornball movie. West Side Story and Fabelmans are the ones I've liked most, I was so anti-WSS but I felt Spielberg all over that thing in a way I hadn't really since Munich, and Fabelmans is kinda just a good high school movie. 

 

I understand the "snoozefest" thing a little with BoS, Lincoln, and The Post, the latter I have seen twice and remember almost nothing about it. I still think Lincoln is extremely impressive but I like it more as a DDL/Tony Kushner movie than a Spielberg movie.

 

But I will say this last decade, even though I like most of the movies because he's still got his bag of tricks and he's kinda better than ever with actors, it does feel like he overall lost his edge. 

[John Dutton 7,218]

Spielberg's latest production outside of the film industry is another disaster. He's just become so impotent and irrelevant.

[Unlucky Bastard 8,493]

He's so disgraceful.

[Edmilson 8,539]

21 minutes ago, Brock Lovett said:

He's just become so impotent

Karen Allen disliked that 

[crumbs 14,651]

11 hours ago, mrbellamy said:

But I will say this last decade, even though I like most of the movies because he's still got his bag of tricks and he's kinda better than ever with actors, it does feel like he overall lost his edge. 

 

The last Spielberg movie I thought had any bite was Munich, but I believe he faced a backlash for the film's politics. Yet that film is just as relevant today as it was 20 years ago. Incredibly underrated.

 

He seemed to retreat into his shell with safer, inoffensive projects after that. The toned-down and toothless Indy sequel that followed Munich perfectly encapsulates this. It's an interesting contrast to his post-Schindler's List phase where he doubled down with a succession of violent, edgier projects.

[Edmilson 8,539]

.

[Not Mr. Big 4,719]

WSS and Fabelmans should have won consecutive best pictures but they both got beaten by the worst movies of all time (Coda, EWAOW)

[John Dutton 7,218]

The Short Round movie? It was trash.

[Unlucky Bastard 8,493]

That movie sucked.

[Naïve Old Fart 10,238]

6 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Or maybe... Just maybe... Could this be the first Steven Spielberg/Hans Zimmer collaboration? 

 

FUCK, NO!!!! 

 

 

 

6 hours ago, Edmilson said:

If somehow Williams is not able to score it (I truly hope he is, really do... But the future is uncertain)...

 

I'm prepared to bet that JW is already working on themes and sketches for the film, based on a reading of the script. You know, just in case...

[Thor 8,114]

"Suck", "trash", "irrelevant", "disagraceful".....I'm impressed by the high quality criticism in regards to Spielberg here. 

 

I look forward to whatever he has next, whether it's a UFO movie or something else. I've learned not to speculate too much until the film is actually shooting, since he swaps projects all the time.

[Jurassic Shark 12,818]

1 hour ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

I'm prepared to bet that JW is already working on themes and sketches for the film, based on a reading of the script. You know, just in case...

 

In case it gets made.

[Schilkeman 1,239]

Well, there’s some takes in here. I wonder sometimes, jwfan, if you have that clearly a mind.

[Jurassic Shark 12,818]

What?

[Naïve Old Fart 10,238]

It's a (mis) quote from RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.

[Unlucky Bastard 8,493]

Agh yew shor it's necessary?

[Naïve Old Fart 10,238]

Would you feel more comfortable opening The Ark in Berlin, for your Führer?

[John Dutton 7,218]

When I was six I thought he said "Canadian" mind.

[Bayesian 1,422]

17 hours ago, Bellosh said:

I predict Spielberg knocks this out of the park.

I feel that Spielberg will be aiming for the upper decks with this one. Or maybe, rather, I feel like if I were Spielberg, I would be aiming for the upper decks. His legacy is rock-solid, of course, but he runs the risk now of being known as the director who delivered hits and cultural touchstones for people of two or three generations past. RP1 was his last big hit and even that was only modestly-sized compared to the Marvel and SW juggernauts of the mid-2010s. 

 

To the extent he cares about such things, I think he's going to want to prove that he can still make new dents in the pop cultural universe.

[mrbellamy 6,645]

I'm very curious about the premise and genre. Action sci-fi, drama sci-fi? Good UFO, bad UFO?

 

And David Koepp with Spielberg is a question mark. Jurassic Park, Lost World, War of the Worlds, and Indy 4 isn't exactly an upward trajectory for their collaboration. 

 

The most interesting thing is that it's Spielberg's own idea. So it'll be their first time going entirely off the cuff together, even though their adaptations were pretty loose.