Steven Spielberg Plots a Gritty New Western — And Reveals What He Really Thinks About Aliens Among Us

Steven Spielberg is finally circling the one big genre he has somehow skipped: a straight-up Western. He teased it in Austin, then pivoted to aliens and a new movie about the moment the truth gets out. Yes, it is exactly the turn you think it is.

Spielberg saddles up

During a talk at SXSW, Spielberg said he is actively developing a Western. He kept details locked up, but he did not undersell the vibe:

"I can't reveal anything right now, but I have something in development, and it kicks ass."

He also promised the movie will come strapped with the essentials, minus the dust-caked cliches:

"There will be horses. There will be guns. There will be no tropes, I can tell you that. There’s going to be no stereotypes."

Considering how much he has riffed on Western language across his career (he has talked plenty about worshipping John Ford and the power of a horizon line), it is wild we have never gotten a full Spielberg Western until now. No cast, no setting, no plot yet — just a confident flex and the promise he is not repeating anyone else’s playbook.

And then... UFOs

Spielberg also talked up his other in-the-works project, a film called Disclosure Day. It digs into the reveal of alien life — and the people trying to keep that reveal buried. Timely is an understatement.

He brought up that moment when a former U.S. president casually said aliens are real, then quickly clarified he meant intelligent life somewhere in the cosmos. Spielberg’s takeaway was basically: fair point, and honestly, it would be bizarre to think we are the only intelligent civilization out there. He urged folks to read up and watch the many recent documentaries on the subject (he pointed to a run of them starting in 2018), while admitting he is not sitting on any secret files.

"I have a very strong suspicion that we are not alone here on Earth right now."

Disclosure Day is set to hit theaters on June 12.

So: a Western on the horizon, and a UFO drama aiming right at our collective nerves. Not exactly small swings. I’m in.