John Williams to Score Steven Spielberg’s UFO Movie, Marking the Duo’s 30th Film Together

John Williams is confirmed to be scoring the next film from Steven Spielberg, marking the 30th cinematic collaboration between the Oscar-winning composer and legendary filmmaker. Almost nothing is known about the narrative of the upcoming movie, which is due in theaters in 2026.

The Juilliard School president Damian Woetzel confirmed the news during an event — “John Williams – A Composer’s Life: A Night of Stories and Music” — hosted on Monday at the renowned performing arts school. “John Williams, who is in Los Angeles doing what he does, […] is working with Steven Spielberg on the next movie. And that is something to be happy about,” Woetzel told the audience, according to journalist Doug Adams.

Williams and Spielberg’s successful partnership began with 1974’s “The Sugarland Express” and continued with big blockbusters like “Jaws,” “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” and “Jurassic Park,” as well as prestige dramas such as “Schindler’s List,” “Saving Private Ryan” and “Lincoln.”

Williams, 93, suggested in 2022 that he’d retire after finishing the score for “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” telling the Associated Press that “Harrison Ford — who’s quite a bit younger than I am — has announced [it] will be his last film. So, I thought: If Harrison can do it, then perhaps I can, also.”

However he’s since backtracked that statement, saying he wouldn’t rule out the possibility of returning for a film that piqued his interest. “I don’t care much for grand pronunciamentos, statements that are firm and finished and surrounded by closed doors. If I made one without putting it in context then I withdraw it,” he said to the Times UK in late 2023.

Spielberg’s film doesn’t have a title or logline but is reportedly a U.F.O. adventure. Universal Pictures, the studio that’s releasing the tentpole theatrically in June, has described the project as a “new original event film.” Josh O’Connor, Emily Blunt, Colman Domingo, Colin Firth and Eve Hewson will lead the ensemble, with another Spielberg collaborator, David Koepp (“Jurassic Park,” “War of the Worlds” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”), set to write the screenplay.