Steven Spielberg’s new sci-fi film brings star of the moment on board – but the leaked title has multiple meanings

Director Steven Spielberg has made the next casting coup for his upcoming sci-fi project After Emily Blunt was already confirmed for the cast, Challengers rival Josh O’Connor on board, who is currently rising to become a much-noticed star.

Fans of the Netflix series The Crown know the British actor as the young Prince Charles. He will also soon be seen in Knives Out 3. Now he will be in Spielberg’s new UFO film whose title was previously secret.

Steven Spielberg’s new sci-fi film is (maybe) called The Dish

After films such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, War of the Worlds and Minority Report, Spielberg’s next sci-fi film may be titled The Dish. This could mean, for example, a radar dish that receives signals from space, or part of a flying saucer. Both are plausible elements for a UFO film. Perhaps a third translation also means an (extraterrestrial) dish. Perhaps from the Simpsons aliens’ cookbook: “How to cook (for) 40 people”?

Empire suspects that the film is called that. The British entertainment site not only reported on Josh O’Connor’s casting, but also has a Project scheduled for May 2026 in Universal Pictures’ plans discovered. This assumption has not been officially confirmed. It could also be the provisional working title of the film.

So far, we can only speculate about the plot of The Dish (?). It is likely that Spielberg will return to his feel-good theme (aliens and spaceships). Family and especially daddy issues are also not unlikely.

Let’s just hope that Spielberg can shoot the ending he wants this time. In the 1970s, the then young filmmaker was denied this wish in his first sci-fi film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which is why he still can’t stand a scene at the end of the film.

Speaking of endings…

Podcast: The 8 best series endings of all time

In this edition of our Moviepilot podcast Streamgestöber we talk about the best series endings of all time. These include TV milestones such as The Wire, Six Feet Under and of course The Sopranos.

We’ve put together eight special finale episodes that brought their series to a worthy conclusion. Sometimes we were on the floor crying, sometimes we could hardly contain our laughter. Before you dive into the podcast, however, there’s a big spoiler warning!