Steven Spielberg’s DISCLOSURE Script Went Through 42 Drafts as He Pushes to Make it One of His Best Films
For almost 50 years, Steven Spielberg has been fascinated by stories involving extraterrestrial life, and with Disclosure Day, it sounds like he’s trying to raise the bar for himself all over again.
The filmmaker’s latest sci-fi thriller reunited him with longtime collaborator David Koepp, and according to the screenwriter, Spielberg pushed this project harder than anything they’ve worked on together before. In fact, the screenplay went through 42 drafts during development.
That marks a personal record for Koepp, whose résumé already includes massive films like Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds, and multiple Indiana Jones movies.
Speaking with Vanity Fair, Koepp explained: “[Spielberg] was more exacting than I’ve ever seen him because he knows he’s worked in this area before. He wants this one to be the best one.”
Koepp said Spielberg first brought him a 38-page treatment for the film, which he described as a “further exploration” of the themes Spielberg tackled in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He also compared the movie’s tone to a paranoid thriller from the 1970s, which feels perfectly in Spielberg’s wheelhouse.
Spielberg also opened up about working with Koepp again, praising the writer’s flexibility throughout production. “[Koepp]’s a good collaborator because he listens as much to me as I do to him,” Spielberg added, noting that the writer is willing to rework a script “including and often through principal photography.”
That creative process clearly became intense if they were still reshaping the story while filming. But honestly, hearing Spielberg obsess over an alien movie this much only makes the project sound more exciting.
Universal has kept most of the story under wraps, but the official synopsis offers a cryptic tease: “If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? This summer, the truth belongs to seven billion people. We are coming close to Disclosure Day.”
The film stars Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo, and Wyatt Russell. Spielberg is producing through Amblin Entertainment alongside Kristie Macosko Krieger, with Adam Somner and Chris Brigham executive producing.
Disclosure Day hits theaters June 12 from Universal Pictures.