Thanks to stellar performances in “Challengers” and “La Chimera,” British actor Josh O’Connor is on the cusp of a Hollywood breakout. His casting in Rian Johnson‘s “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” may have initiated that process, but the actor’s lastest one cements it. Empire reports that O’Connor will star opposite Emily Blunt in Steven Spielberg‘s upcoming UFO blockbuster. It doesn’t get any bigger than that, does it?
READ MORE: Steven Spielberg’s Next Film Will Hit Theaters On May 15, 2026
Some may (like this writer) lament O’Connor’s transition to more popular films like Spielberg’s latest, but it was only a matter of time before Hollywood studios recognized the actor’s talent. And O’Connor is formidable onscreen. He’s been dazzling indie audiences since the early 2010s, although 2017’s “In God’s Country” was arguably the performance that put him on the map. Since then, the actor has gradually gained steam before he recently took to the movie world by storm. So now it’s time to see how O’Connor performs on the biggest (not necessarily the best) of stages.
As noted earlier, O’Connor will co-star in Spielberg’s film with Blunt, who’s also in a career renaissance period. Fresh off of “Oppenheimer” and “The Fall Guy,” Blunt also has Benny Safdie‘s “The Smashing Machine” on the way from A24. But Spielberg’s UFO film remains one of Hollywood’s best-kept secrets. No one knows any plot details about the film, only that Spielberg hatched the idea with “Jurassic Park” writer David Koepp. Kristie Macosko Krieger will also produce the film, as she did on Spielberg’s last two pictures, “The Fabelmans” and “West Side Story.” Outside of that, all that’s known about the pic is its release date: May 15, 2026, courtesy of Universal Pictures.
And that leads to a potential clue about the film’s title. At an IMAX Investor presentation earlier this week, a May 2025 Universal Pictures release titled “The Dish” was part of the project list. Is that the name of Spielberg’s next blockbuster? If it is, it doesn’t have the same ring as “War Of The Worlds” or “Close Encounters Of The Third King,” but there’s still plenty of time to alter that title. And there’s no way to confirm “The Dish” is even Spielberg’s new project, so take this speculation with a healthy grain of salt.
Still: Spielberg, Blunt, O’Connor, Koepp; that’s a formidable foursome to work on a blockbuster together. Blunt isn’t a stranger to sci-fi actioners (see “The Edge Of Tomorrow” and “A Quiet Place“), but it’s new ground for O’Connor. He only has “Wake Up Dead Man” as experience in big-budget filmmaking, with that film shooting now. Is he ready for to be under the brightest of lights? Count on it: between Johnson’s sequel, “The History Of Sound,” and Spielberg’s UFO pic (and whatever else he makes in between), O’Connor could be a household name by May 2026. Would that surprise anyone?
Stay tuned for more news on Spielberg’s next pic as it approaches its production start date.