For decades now, alien enthusiasts have theorised that evidence of extra-terrestrial life has been hidden by authorities, filed away from prying eyes in Area 51 and secret military bases. If the truth is out there, it’s redacted. A similar secrecy applies to Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day. This is a blockbuster of the ‘top-secret’ variety – a mysterious conspiracy thriller that sees the Hollywood legend return to the science-fiction genre he’s revolutionised many times over. His latest is all about the big questions: do aliens exist? How long have we known for? And should humanity at large know about it?
These are notions that Spielberg has explored going right back to 1977’s Close Encounters Of The Third Kind – and nearly 50 years later, he has more to say. “There are definitely questions posed by Close Encounters that are answered in Disclosure Day,” star Emily Blunt tells Empire. We can reveal that she plays Margaret Fairchild, a journalist who career-pivots into weather presenting; where, as the Disclosure Day trailers show, she’s at the centre of a bizarre on-air incident, vocalising in unsettling seemingly-inhuman clicks. “She’s walked through life with itchy fingertips,” Blunt teases. “She has this sense that she doesn’t belong where she is right now.”
Margaret is swept into the orbit of Josh O’Connor’s Daniel Kellner – a cyber-security expert who’s stumbled upon highly-classified knowledge, placing a target firmly on his back. “He is a complete unexpected hero,” O’Connor says. “He’s an incredibly thoughtful person, but underneath, there is something about him that is unexplained, that he can’t put his finger on.” Also caught in the crossfire is Eve Hewson’s Jane Blakenship, Daniel’s girlfriend, facing her own fallout from his quest for the truth.
Hot on Margaret and Daniel’s tail is Colin Firth’s antagonist, Noah Scanlon – leader of Wardex, contracted by the government to keep the biggest secret in the cosmos, well, secret. As sinister as Scanlon is, he’s a man with a job to do, with major consequences if he fails. “There are very few people that have that responsibility to maintain what the world can cope with and what it can’t,” says Firth. “Then the question becomes, who gets to decide that?”
Also fresh out of Wardex – with a different agenda – is Colman Domingo’s Hugo Wakefield, an advocate for disclosure. And, possibly, a stand-in for Steven Spielberg himself. “We’ve never discussed it, but I feel like Hugo is a surrogate for Steven,” Domingo muses. “I feel like Steven’s optimism, his trust, his belief in the moon and the stars and all that is beyond are embedded in my character.”
For now, everything else Disclosure Day is locked away. Maybe in a wooden crate, somewhere at the back of a giant warehouse, surrounded by endless other wooden crates. But this summer, the truth will be revealed.
The new issue of Empire features a major new Steven Spielberg interview, on his lifelong sci-fi obsession, his legendary contributions to the genre, and how it all culminates in his new original feature, Disclosure Day. Plus, we sit down with the Disclosure Day cast – Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, and Eve Hewson – and screenwriter David Koepp to get the first word on the summer’s most top-secret blockbuster. Find the Steven Spielberg issue on newsstands from Thursday April 9. Pre-order a copy online here. Disclosure Day comes to cinemas from June 12.
