John Williams and Steven Spielberg are set to work on their 30th film together as the five-time Oscar-winning composer is working on the score for Spielberg’s untitled UFO film, set to be released by Universal next summer.
The news was revealed by Juilliard School president Damian Woetzel at an event on the school’s New York campus on Monday celebrating Williams’ career and hosted by composer Nicholas Britell.
“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 said, according to musician and writer Doug Adams.
Universal declined to comment.
Williams, 93, previously suggested that his score for the 2023 film “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” could be his last for any movie. But in subsequent interviews, he walked back that idea, saying he would be open to future film projects that interested him alongside his classical composing work.
“If a film came along that I was greatly interested in, with a schedule that I could cope with, I wouldn’t want to rule anything out. Everything is possible. Only our limitations are holding us back,” Williams told The Times in 2023.
Along with 54 Oscar nominations — second only to Walt Disney for the most in history — Williams’ long list of accolades includes 26 Grammy Awards, three Emmys and seven BAFTAs. Of his five Oscars, three have come from scores for films directed by Spielberg and contain some of the most iconic themes in cinematic history: “Jaws,” “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” and “Schindler’s List.”
Along with those films, Williams has composed themes for Spielberg films like “Jurassic Park,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Munich,” “Saving Private Ryan” and “Catch Me If You Can,” as well as all of the “Indiana Jones” films.
Spielberg’s next film has been kept deeply under wraps, with no title or logline yet released. At a press event held in Spielberg’s honor at the Universal backlot, a brief sizzle reel was shown with the film’s star, Emily Blunt, shooting an action sequence in which she jumps from a car to a train.
Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo and Wyatt Russell will also star in the film, which is written by “Jurassic Park” screenwriter David Koepp. Universal will release the film on June 12, 2026.
