Variety reported in April 2024 that, according to sources, Steven Spielberg's next project would be a UFO film based on his own original idea. David Koepp would be writing the screenplay. Aliens and UFO's have long been a favorite topic of Spielberg. Just last year, he executive produced a limited Netflix series by the name of Encounters (2023), and prior to that he produced both Taken (2003) and Falling Skies (2011). Years prior to that, he almost made another "mean aliens" movie by the name of Night Skies.
This is Steven Spielberg's first movie to be based on a completely original screenplay since E.T., l'extra-terrestre (1982). All of the films he has directed since then have been either sequels, remakes, adaptations, or true stories / historical stories.
Steven Spielberg worked with Wyatt Russell's mother, Goldie Hawn, on his first feature, Sugarland Express (1974).
Marks costume designer Paul Tazewell's second collaboration with Spielberg following West Side Story (2021).