When Steven Spielberg goes sci-fi, cinematic magic is made. Think Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. Or E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. Or Minority Report, or A.I. Artificial Intelligence, or War Of The Worlds. For decades now, Spielberg has been the master of not only blockbuster movies, but big imaginative visions of worlds beyond our own. And now, it all comes together in Disclosure Day – Spielberg’s long-awaited return to big summer sci-fi cinema, wrestling with the notion of alien contact, and humanity’s relationship to life among the stars. Watch the skies: the master is back in action.
This month’s issue of Empire is a massive Steven Spielberg special – featuring a major new interview with the legend himself on his top secret science-fiction thriller, and his astonishing history with the genre; revisiting the classic movies that got him here, and exploring how it culminates in the ultimate truth-is-out-there tale in Disclosure Day. Plus we take a deep-dive into the new film, speaking to its starry cast – Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colman Domingo and more – and writer David Koepp, heading into restricted areas for the first word on this summer’s most mysterious must-see.
On the cover is, of course, Steven Spielberg, bathed in cosmic light, shot exclusively for Empire by Art Streiber in Los Angeles.

And the subscriber cover features a silhouette of the great director, as he faces a close encounter of the Empire kind.

And that’s not all. Also inside this issue, we take on the tablet revolution with Toy Story 5; meet kung-fu titan Jet Li for a career-spanning new interview; pull the (woollen) threads on farmyard whodunnit The Sheep Detectives; take the Spice to look ahead at what lies in store in Dune: Part Three; pop off with David Lowery’s Mother Mary; go on the steamy set of Rivals Season 2; experience cinematic Stink-O-Vision with Dead Lover; and much more.
The Steven Spielberg issue escapes containment on Thursday April 9, coming to your local newsstand – and you can pre-order a copy online here. Disclosure Day comes to cinemas on June 12.