Sphere is a 1998 American science fiction psychological thriller film directed and produced by Barry Levinson, and starring Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone, and Samuel L. Jackson. Sphere is based on the 1987 novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. The film was released in the United States on February 13, 1998. A spacecraft, presumed to be of alien origin, is discovered on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. Team of experts are perplexed to learn it's not alien at all, but rather American in origin. Ship's computer logs cryptically suggest a mission that originated either in the distant past or future. holographic re-enactment of event reveals ship encountered a black hole, which led to the ship crash landing in the 1700's. Sound clips here.