Yahoo Lifestyle Steven Spielberg ‘Flirted’ With Making an ‘E.T.’ Sequel and Then Fought Against the Studio Wanting One: ‘That Was a Real Hard-Fought Victory’
Steven Spielberg recently reunited with his “E.T.” actor Drew Barrymore at the TCM Classic Film Festival: New York Pop-Up x 92NY (via Total Film) and revealed that he once “flirted” with the idea of making a sequel to “E.T.” But the Oscar winner ultimately decided a sequel was not the right idea, although the studio pushed him to make one. “E.T.” opened in theaters in 1982 and became such a cultural sensation that it surpassed “Star Wars” to become the highest-grossing movie ever at the time. No wonder the studio wanted a sequel.
“That was a real hard-fought victory because I didn’t have any rights,” Spielberg said about squashing a an “E.T.” sequel. “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.”
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“I just did not want to make a sequel,” he continued. “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 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.”
“The Book of the Green Planet” was a novel released in 1985 by author William Kotzwinkle, who had previously written the official novelization of the original movie. The book follows E.T. returning to his home planet to discover it is not what he remembers leaving. He continues to observe Elliot grow up from across the galaxy.
Spielberg’s “E.T” held the record for highest-grossing film for 11 years until it was surpassed by the director’s own “Jurassic World.” The movie earned nine Oscar nominations, including best picture and best director, and won four prizes. The back-to-back success of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “E.T.” made Spielberg Hollywood’s biggest blockbuster director.
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