Sequels and if they should exist is always an interesting conversation. As a fan, if you like something you would want more media. On the other hand, nobody wants a bad sequel because there isn’t much substance for a sequel. Director Steven Spielberg shares his ‘hard-fought victory’ to not have a sequel to his classic E.T.. And while I agree why it was better to not have one, the idea he had was still kind of cool.
At the TCM Classic Film Festival: New York Pop-Up x 92NY event, Steven Spielberg recalled when he halted a sequel to one of the best sci-fi movies, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. At the time, it was a difficult time, not in favor of the sequel, but against. Spielberg explained why, at the time, this fight was something so hard fought. At the event (via The Hollywood Reporter) he said:
That was a real hard-fought victory because I didn’t have any rights. 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.
Back in 2023 the topic of a sequel came up because the cast of the movie came onto Drew Barrymore’s daytime show. While Barrymore herself was a child at the time, the older cast members brought up that there were talks in the 80’s. Alas, the sequel was ultimately squashed. When asked why he himself didn’t want the sequel to be made, Spielberg had this to say:
I just did not want to make a sequel. 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.
The E.T. sequel has been mentioned before, a few years back actor Henry Thomas spoke about the idea, and how in the ’80s all talks about a sequel were pretty quickly squashed by Spielberg. Between that and the original concept for E.T. was closer to sci-fi horror than the family friendly film it is known as, and the fact that the ending was supposed to be very different; I can understand why at the time the filmmaker just wanted to keep this as a standalone film.
On paper, the concept is intriguing. As someone who grew up on E.T. and other Spielberg classic movies, the idea of seeing The Green Planet on screen would have been cool. If you’ve ever been on the ride at Universal, it is based on the book The Green Planet, and as a kid it was really cool to see a glimpse of the planet. (Especially if you grew up in Orlando going to Universal every other weekend like I did). So while I would have liked to see the movie, and the concept is something I kind of dig, I ultimately agree that E.T. should just stay as its own standalone film.
Luckily for us, Universal Studios Orlando still has the classic E.T. Adventure despite all its changes. So, we can still go to The Green Planet that way, and the book E.T.: The Book of The Green Planet by William Kotzwinkle can be found on Amazon.