Coming together for their 30th film, 51 years after their first collaboration with 1974’s The Sugarland Express, John Williams will score Steven Spielberg’s forthcoming untitled UFO film, the plot of which practically nothing is known. Williams joins screenwriter David Koepp, and stars Josh O’Connor, Emily Blunt, Colman Domingo, Colin Firth and Eve Hewson in the Universal Pictures release landing June 2026. This marks a wonderful backstep from the maestro who had previously stated his intent to retire from cinema after his Oscar nominated score for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
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.
