Once upon a time, Steven Spielberg was set to direct a big-screen adaptation of Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson, but it seems the sci-fi project was becoming too big, even for him.

Steven Spielberg on Robopocalypse

Robopocalypse tells the story of humanity’s desperate last stand against an AI uprising. It was an ambitious project, and Spielberg told Empire (via GamesRadar) that he soon realized it would have been far too expensive to make.

“It was gargantuan. It was a company-ender. It would have ended a whole studio that would have never made its money back,” he said. “So, I literally decided it was going to be the most expensive movie I ever directed, and I wasn’t ready to take that on.“

The film was looking at a budget of over $200 million, which wasn’t something Dreamworks could take on. “My company, DreamWorks, financed all these films, and I did not want to bring Robo’ into my own company, because it would have just been too expensive for us to produce,” Spielberg explained. “And then I took it out to other companies. I didn’t want to pay for it, but other companies were interested in paying for it, as long as I was the director.” However, constant delays kept pushing the project back, and Spielberg ultimately stepped away.

Robopocalypse had gotten pretty far along, with Drew Goddard writing the script and Chris Hemsworth, Anne Hathaway, and Ben Whishaw set to star. The last we heard, Michael Bay was going to take over as director, but that was eight years ago.

Disclosure Day

Spielberg’s next, Disclosure Day, is familiar territory for the director: Aliens and UFOs. The film revolves around the revelation of alien life and those who would keep it secret.

Spielberg has said that he made this film because “I’ve always been fascinated with things that cannot be explained. When I was just a little kid, I remember developing a real curiosity about the sky at night, and what’s happening up there. And, also, not the possibility, but the guarantee that there is life off this planet.” Disclosure Day will hit theaters on June 12.