Steven Spielberg to reunite with one of his most legendary collaborators for new UFO film

It has been announced that the legendary John Williams is to compose the score for Steven Spielberg’s next film, an as yet unnamed project concerning UFOs.

This will mark the 30th collaboration between the pair, with Williams’s soundtracks having previously been an unforgettable feature of many of the directors most beloved classics.

The news was announced at a special event held in New York earlier this week to celebrate the life’s work of the composer. Williams himself was not at the event, but it was confirmed by Juilliard School president Damian Woetzel that he was “in Los Angeles doing what he does: he is working with Steven Spielberg on the next movie. And that is something to be happy about."

The pair have been collaborating on movies together since the release of The Sugarland Express in 1974. Since then, Williams has provided iconic backing tracks to such classics as Jaws, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, and Saving Private Ryan.

Meanwhile, Williams also provided the score for Spielberg’s previous UFO related films, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

The announcement comes as a welcome return for the movie soundtrack legend, who, at 93, had previously indicated he would be retiring following his work on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny in 2022.

Williams had however stated that this was by no means a final decision, indicating that he would still be interested in scoring any films that piqued his interest. It seems the prospect of working with his long-term collaborator has done just that.

Little else has been revealed about Spielberg’s upcoming project. Nothing is known about the plot itself save that it will revolve around the phenomenon of UFOs, and that it has been described as a “new original event film”. Principal photography took place earlier this year, with the completed film scheduled for release in June 2026.

Also announced as taking part in the project are actors Josh O’Connor, Emily Blunt, Colman Domingo, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, and Wyatt Russell, who will be leading the cast. Another frequent Spielberg collaborator, David Koepp, has written the screenplay.

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