Steven Spielberg Reflects on the Intense Battle to Prevent a Sequel to Sci-Fi Classic E.T.

It turns out, we almost had a sequel to E.T., but Steven Spielberg, the film’s legendary director, went to great lengths to prevent that from happening.

Let’s face it, sequels rarely live up to expectations. Occasionally, they do, and in some rare cases, they even surpass the original. But generally, it’s wiser to keep a movie as a standalone to avoid letting audiences down. E.T. is a classic example of a film that seems perfect by itself. Still, there was a time when some higher-ups were pushing for a follow-up. Spielberg shared this during an appearance at the TCM Classic Film Festival: New York Pop-Up x 92NY event, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. He described how challenging it was to fight against a sequel because he didn’t initially have full rights.

“Before E.T., my rights were limited. I didn’t have what you call ‘the freeze,’ which allows you to stop the studio from making a sequel by having control over sequels, remakes, and other uses of the IP. I got those rights after E.T.’s massive success,” Spielberg explained. He also mentioned that he wasn’t interested in making a sequel.

At one point, Spielberg entertained the idea, trying to come up with a storyline. The only concept that appealed to him was based on a book titled ‘The Green Planet,’ which would focus on E.T.’s home world. “We were going to visit E.T.’s home and explore his life there. But ultimately, it felt like a concept better suited for a novel than a movie,” he said.

Imagine how different things might be if that sequel had been made. Thankfully, Spielberg stood his ground. After all, E.T. had already achieved monumental success, once holding the crown as the highest-grossing movie of all time. Sometimes, it’s best to let a masterpiece remain untouched.