When E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial hit theaters in 1982, the movie was an instant hit. But when the studio floated the idea of a follow-up, director Steven Spielberg put a stop to it.
Spielberg recalled stopping a potential E.T. sequel while discussing the movie with Drew Barrymore during the TCM Classic Film Festival: New York Pop-Up x 92NY event. "That was a real hard-fought victory because I didn't have any rights," the director said via The Hollywood Reporter. "Before E.T., I had some rights, but I didn't have a lot of rights. I kind of didn't have what we call 'the freeze,' where you can stop the studio from making a sequel because you control the freeze on sequels, remakes and other ancillary uses of the IP. I didn't have that. I got it after E.T. because of its success."
Spielberg also explained why he was so against a sequel. "I just did not want to make a sequel," he said. "I flirted with it for a little bit - just a little bit to see if I [could] think of a story - and the only thing I could think about was a book that was written by somebody that wrote the book for it called The Green Planet, which was all going to take place at E.T.'s home. We were all going to be able to go to E.T.'s home and see how E.T. lived. But it was better as a novel than I think it would have been as a film. I have no intention ever of seeing E.T. anywhere outside of this proscenium."
E.T. Is A Perfect Standalone Story
Barrymore, who played Gertie Taylor in the film between the ages of six and seven, also recalled how adamant the filmmaker was about not developing a sequel. "I remember you saying, ' We are not making a sequel to E.T.' I think I was eight. I remember being like, 'OK, that's a bummer, but I totally get it,'" she said. "I thought it was a smart choice. I very much understand it. Where do we go from here? They're just going to compare it to the first and leave something that's perfect alone in isolation open to scrutiny. It made so much sense."
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial chronicles the adventures of a young boy named Elliott (Henry Thomas) who discovers an alien hiding in his backyard shed. He secretly takes the creature into his home and names it E.T. Elliott soon realizes that his new best pal is intelligent and friendly, but is also desperate to return to its home planet. Along with his siblings Michael (Robert MacNaughton) and Gertie (Barrymore), Elliot works to get E.T. home while hiding him from government agents.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial can be found on Netflix and other streaming platforms.
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