Steven Spielberg Fought Hard To Stop A Sequel To One Of His Best Movies

Sequels stemming from Steven Spielberg movies haven't had the best track record. Sure, the "Indiana Jones" films had two great movies after "Raiders of the Lost Ark," but the "Jurassic Park" films never captured the dino-mite magic of the original, and the less said about the "Jaws" sequels, the better. One sequel that never materialized, however, was a follow-up to Spielberg's 1982 gem, "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial." Thankfully, Spielberg fought hard to ensure the alien hoping to phone home never made a return call.

While appearing recently at the TCM Classic Film Festival: New York Pop-Up x 92NY with Drew Barrymore (via The Hollywood Reporter), the Oscar-winning director explained how he stood firm regarding the little guy who made you believe a boy on a bike could fly. "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," he explained. "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." But just because the director ultimately fought against it didn't mean he didn't actually entertain the idea of a sequel himself.

If your heart isn't in something, it's probably best to leave it be. That was the decision Steven Spielberg eventually made when contemplating the idea of following up to his gem of a sci-fi family movie. "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," he confessed. Well, there was that and a much darker chapter titled "E.T. Nocturnal Fears," co-written by "E.T." writer Melissa Matheson, where E.T. protects Elliott (Henry Thomas) from a carnivorous offshoot of his own species. However, "The Green Planet" sounded much more cheerful.

Written by William Kotzwinkle three years after the original film's release, "E.T.: The Book of the Green Planet" follows our alien pal as he heads home, only to keep an eye on his human friend, Elliott (Henry Thomas). Seeing that both he and his buddy are changing, E.T. breaks his planet's laws and returns to Earth to set his friend right. "We were all going to be able to go to E.T.'s home and see how E.T. lived," Spielberg revealed. "But it was better as a novel than I think it would have been as a film." Good. Let's keep it that way.