Steven Spielberg on Making a Western and Obama's Alien Comments

Mar 13, 2026 12:43pm PT Steven Spielberg Says He’s Developing a ‘Kick Ass’ Western Movie and Got Excited When Obama Said Aliens Are Real: ‘This Is So Great For “Disclosure Day”‘ By Selome Hailu Plus Icon Selome Hailu Latest Steven Spielberg Says Ballet and Opera Are Just Like Moviegoing Amid Timothée Chalamet Controversy: ‘We Want’ Them to ‘Go Forever’ 11 minutes ago ‘Animal Kingdom’ Boss Eliza Clark Sets Hulu Crime Drama Pilot ‘Durango’ About Runaway Lovers 2 days ago Will Ferrell’s Netflix Golf Comedy ‘The Hawk’ Unveils Teaser and Sets Summer Premiere 2 days ago See All Getty Images After saying last year that the western genre has “eluded [him] for decades,” Steven Spielberg is finally making his addition to the genre. During a keynote conversation at SXSW, moderator Sean Fennessey asked the director about whether he has plans to make a western film. “I can’t reveal anything right now, but I have something in development,” Spielberg said. “And it kicks ass.” Spielberg also said he hopes to shoot the film in Texas — though that may have been a wink to the audience, as SXSW takes place in Austin. When pressed for more details, he added: “There will be horses. There will be guns. There will be no tropes, I can tell you that. There’s going to be no stereotypes.” Popular on Variety Related Stories 'Under Salt Marsh' Creator on Jackie's Pregnancy, Possible Season 2 and Picking the Murderer: 'I Want People to Say, “Of Course, Holy Sh-t, It's [SPOILER]"' Sky Acquires Cary Joji Fukunaga's Crime Thriller 'Blood on Snow,' Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (EXCLUSIVE) Much of the conversation revolved Spielberg’s ideas about extraterrestrial life and his upcoming UFO film “Disclosure Day.” When Fennessy brought up a recent podcast on which Barack Obama confidently said that aliens are real, Spielberg laughed. “When President Obama made that comment, I thought, ‘Oh my god, this is so great for “Disclosure Day.” This is amazing,'” he said. “Then two days later, he stepped back the comments and said what he believed in was life in the cosmos — which, of course, everybody should believe in. Because no one should ever think that that we are the only intelligent civilization in the entire universe.” Jump to Comments Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn’s Emails to Jeffrey Epstein Unearth College Admissions Boost, #MeToo Criticism and a Timothée Chalamet Diss JavaScript is required to load the comments. Loading comments...