Joseph Kosinski Insists His UFO Disclosure Film Is Science Fact, Not Sci-Fi

Joseph Kosinski is juggling jets, race cars, and now flying saucers. After Top Gun: Maverick and his Formula One film F1 with Jerry Bruckheimer, the director says the project most likely to hit the starting line next is a UFO disclosure thriller he insists is not sci-fi. His words, not mine: science fact.

The pitch

This one is being framed as a UFO-flavored take on the classic 70s newsroom thriller All the President's Men. The hook: two national security insiders stumble onto a covert government program tasked with recovering crashed UAPs (the rebranded term for UFOs) and reverse-engineering whatever is inside. It is meant to be big, contemporary, and yes, conspiratorial.

Who is making it

Kosinski is directing from a script by Zach Baylin, who wrote The Order and King Richard (the latter earned him an Oscar nomination). Jerry Bruckheimer is producing, because of course he is. Apple Original Films jumped aboard almost a year ago, reportedly spending dozens of millions of dollars to be part of it. And in a very telling behind-the-scenes detail, David Grusch — the former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer and Pentagon whistleblower who grabbed headlines in 2023 with his UAP claims — is attached as an executive producer and consultant.

Why this story now

UFOs were easy to roll your eyes at for decades. Then the vocabulary changed to UAPs, and the conversation moved into the mainstream. A quick refresher on how we got here: a 2017 New York Times report revealed the Pentagon's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program; the Department of Defense has since confirmed multiple declassified Navy videos showing fast-moving objects naval aviators could not identify; and congressional hearings in 2022 and 2023 put national security officials on the record about the issue. In 2023, Grusch publicly alleged the U.S. government has been quietly recovering and studying non-human craft, which poured gasoline on the public curiosity bonfire.

Kosinski, in his own words

'You think it is science fiction, but I think we are finding out it is science facts.'

That line came during a chat on Deadline's Behind the Lens with Pete Hammond, where Kosinski said he and Bruckheimer are working with two people at the center of the UAP conversation, Baylin is writing right now, and the team is trying to get the movie ready as soon as possible.

Yes, there is competition

Steven Spielberg has an event movie called Disclosure Day headed to theaters, and its teaser makes it clear that film leans into science fiction. Kosinski and Bruckheimer are not blinking; their angle is very much the grounded, ripped-from-the-headlines take.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Kosinski-verse

• Top Gun 3 is still on the long-range radar for Kosinski and Bruckheimer.
• F1 could spawn a sequel if the first one sticks the landing.
• He is gearing up a Miami Vice movie and has already been in touch with Michael Mann, hoping to involve him in some capacity.

Short version: Kosinski has a full dance card, but the UAP thriller looks like the one itching to sprint into production. If he really delivers the 'science fact' version of this story, expect a lot of people — skeptics and believers — to show up just to see what the movie dares to say out loud.