Steven Spielberg believes we will discover aliens in our lifetime

8 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on Google Yasmin RufoLeicester Square Spielberg's 37th film is a spiritual companion to Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E. For more than 40 years, Steven Spielberg has been asking audiences the same question: what if we're not alone? From the friendly alien at the heart of E. T. to the mysterious visitors in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, some of his most celebrated films have explored humanity's fascination with life beyond Earth. Now, the Oscar-winning director is returning to that theme once again with Disclosure Day, a sci-fi thriller starring Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colman Domingo, Colin Firth and Eve Hewson. The film imagines a world on the brink of a revelation: proof that non-human intelligence exists and has been hidden in plain sight. At the centre of the story are Blunt's character, meteorologist Margaret Fairchild, and O'Connor's Daniel Kellner, a cybersecurity expert who uncovers evidence of a long-running cover-up and finds himself pursued as governments and powerful corporations race to contain the truth. Speaking at the UK premiere in Leicester Square, Spielberg told the BBC he remains captivated . "My view has become more realistic," he said. "There's a lot of mystery and things that are undisclosed but I've become more optimistic that people are going to be able to discover things that we have not been allowed to discover." The cast includes Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colman Domingo and Colin Firth The film arrives at a time when discussions about unidentified aerial phenomena, government transparency and artificial intelligence have moved from the fringes of popular culture into mainstream debate. While Disclosure Day centres on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, many of its themes focus on trust, secrecy and how societies respond when long-held assumptions are challenged. Most importantly, according to the 79-year-old filmmaker, it centres ultimately on humanity. "It's about empathy and bringing people together" and an event like discovering the existence of aliens "would bring people together", he said. The Devil Wears Prada actor added that it's "mathematically insane to imagine we are the only civilisation" and one of the film's key messages "is not to be afraid 't know." The film's release also comes as Hollywood continues to debate the growing role of artificial intelligence in filmmaking. Earlier this week Martin Scorsese received backlash after endorsing an AI tool and calling it "creatively freeing". Like several of his co-stars, the Euphoria actor said he believes there may be life beyond Earth. "We all go out and see stars and I can imagine that there's someone out there looking at me," he said.