Steven Spielberg has no shortage of great films on his résumé, continuing to deliver high-quality work to this day. Even after all this time, his classic sci-fi blockbuster E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial remains one of his crowning achievements. In many ways, it encapsulates what makes Spielberg arguably the greatest living filmmaker, combining awe-inspiring wonder and powerful emotion to tell a story that’s both entertaining and poignant. E.T., of course, is built around the touchind dynamic between the titular alien and Elliott. They develop a strong bond during their short time together before a tearful goodbye. Fans have wondered if Elliott ever saw his friend again after that, and now Spielberg has the definitive answer.
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During an appearance on the podcast Happy Sad Confused to promote his new film Disclosure Day, Spielberg was asked whether or not Elliott and E.T. had a reunion. “No, never saw him again,” he said. “But he did dream about him. So there was a psychic link between the two of them. If you notice that E.T. touched Elliott right here [points to his forehead] and said, ‘I’ll be right here.’”
Why E.T. Never Received a Sequel
When it was released in 1982, E.T. broke box office records and became the highest-grossing film of all time. Typically, that kind of performance all but guarantees a sequel will get the green light, but E.T. is the rare case where that didn’t happen. Spielberg took part in “hard-fought” battles to ensure a follow-up never got off the ground, which was difficult for him because he didn’t have “the freeze” on the IP (where he had control over what the studio could do). There was a time when Spielberg considered making E.T. 2, but all that materialized was a novel called E.T.: The Book of the Green Planet. A sequel movie was never produced, allowing the iconic original to forever stand on its own.
What’s funny about Spielberg’s response is that Elliott did, in fact, see E.T. again. In 2019, an adult Henry Thomas starred in an Xfinity commercial where E.T. visits Elliott’s family during the holiday season. As amusing as that commercial was, it evidently isn’t canon to the film’s continuity. There’s no greater authority on E.T. than Spielberg, so if he says Elliott never saw E.T. again, then that commercial is just a fun “what if?” scenario that tapped into nostalgia audiences have for the film.
In 2022, Thomas told ComicBook that the commercial is the closest we’ll get to seeing an E.T. sequel on screen, and that is the right decision. Considering how perfect a film E.T. is, crafting a satisfying follow-up would have been a borderline impossible task, even for a master like Spielberg. E.T. was also an incredibly personal film for Spielberg, with the story drawing from his experience as a child of divorce. The story it tells is so specific to a certain point in time, and there aren’t any obvious narrative threads left dangling by the time the credits roll. The plot is self-contained, and revisiting this world would just be a massive risk. There have been some great legacy sequels, but there are plenty of ways they can go wrong.
It’s sad to hear Elliott never saw E.T. again. The two were obviously very close and they had a profound impact on each other, so it would have been nice if they got to spend some more time together. Fans hoping they reunited can take solace in the psychic link that exists between them. E.T. and Elliott’s bond transcends our world. Dreaming about someone isn’t the same as actually being with someone in waking moments, but dreams can feel very real, and it’ll be interesting if Spielberg ever shares details about what transpired in those dreams. It sounds like E.T. found his own way to forever be a part of Elliott’s life.
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