The Dark Story Behind The Canceled Sequel To 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial'
Steven Spielberg Is Known For Shunning Sequels
Photo: Universal Pictures / AmazonBy the time he made E.T. in 1982, Spielberg had already experienced meteoric success with Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Universal tried desperately to get Spielberg to make a sequel to Jaws, but he just wouldn't do it.
Rejected, Universal decided to crank out three Jaws sequels without him, all of which were critically panned. Perhaps Spielberg had this in mind when Columbia Pictures came to him requesting a sequel to Close Encounters, because instead of turning them down outright, he offered to create a tonally similar film that wasn't tied to any existing intellectual properties.
"Night Skies" Was To Be A Spiritual Successor To "Close Encounters"
Photo: Columbia Pictures / AmazonIn lieu of making a sequel to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Spielberg pitched Columbia Pictures a film that was to combine "the terror of Jaws with the extraterrestrial sci-fi of Close Encounters."
This movie was initially to be called Watch the Skies but was later retitled Night Skies. It was based on the Kelly-Hopkinsville alien encounter that took place in Kentucky in 1955. Night Skies was never actually filmed, but it served as the inspiration for a different Spielberg film: E.T. the Extraterrestrial.
"E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" Was A Massive Hit
Photo: Universal PicturesIn 1981, Steven Spielberg filmed E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial on a budget of just $10.5 million. When it was released the following summer, E.T. surpassed Star Wars to become the highest-grossing film of all time, a record it held for 11 years.
By 1983, the film was nominated for nine Academy Awards and ended up winning four. While E.T. was up for Best Picture, that particular award ended up going to Richard Attenborough's Gandhi. Given the movie's mega-success and Spielberg's nearly flawless track record, it should come as no surprise that talks of a sequel quickly began.
The Sequel Was Titled "E.T. 2: Nocturnal Fears"
Photo: Universal PicturesWith a name like "Nocturnal Fears" it's amazing that the idea for an E.T. sequel ever made it out of the pitch room. Fortunately, a traditional script was never actually produced for E.T. 2: Nocturnal Fears because the 10-page treatment Melissa Mathison and Steven Spielberg put together was already too much.
As the name suggests, the sequel to the sweet, family-friendly film was indeed a horror movie. Well, the way it's described in the treatment makes it sound an awful lot like a horror movie.
The Treatment For "Nocturnal Fears" Was Written By The Writer Of The Original Film
Photo: WP:NFCC#4 / Wikimedia Commons / Fair UseMelissa Mathison had a long, impressive career up until she passed in 2015. One of the brightest minds in children's cinema, she wrote the film adaptations of The Black Stallion, The Indian in the Cupboard, and The BFG. Most famously, Mathison penned the original screenplay for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
One might think that the perversion of a beloved story could only be the work of two very different writers. On the contrary, both Mathison and Spielberg were heavily involved in the production of the sequel treatment, making the dark, edgy tonal shift even more befuddling.
"Nocturnal Fears" Would Have Introduced More Of E.T.'s People To Earth
Photo: Universal PicturesThe crux of the sequel's story is that yet another alien ship arrives on Earth after picking up on a distress call from one of their people. "These creatures are an albino fraction (mutation) of the same civilization E.T. belongs to. The two separate groups have been at war for decades!" reads the treatment.
Worse still, these aliens are carnivorous, hostile, and capable of producing a "hypnotic hum" that paralyzes people. This is likely how they've managed to capture the various alien species that are kept imprisoned on their ship.
E.T.'s Name Is Zrek
Photo: Universal PicturesPerhaps the most unforgivable of the treatment's additions is that E.T. is now really named Zrek. One of the most endearing parts of the original movie is that no one knows E.T.'s name, yet he comes to perfectly embody the moniker the children bestow upon him. Then, the sequel shows up to ruin all that.
Sooo... Knowing this... Do we all have to call E.T. "Zrek"? Does this fact count as canon if the sequel was never actually made?
The Kids Are Taken Prisoner And Interrogated
Photo: Universal PicturesIn addition to the "evil" aliens imprisoning creatures and mutilating cattle (which is explicitly described in the treatment), they are on the hunt for the "fugitive alien" Zrek (AKA E.T.) who made contact with Elliot, Michael, and Gertie in the original film.
In an effort to uncover Zrek's whereabouts, the aliens capture the children and subject them to intense interrogation until they are "mentally and physically drained." Please just stop already.
Elliot's Parents Get Divorced
Photo: Universal PicturesThe treatment for the sequel lays out a storyline wherein Elliot's father returns from New Mexico in order to file for divorce. This is for the best, as it's soon revealed that Elliot's mother, Mary, has started dating Dr. Keys since the end of the first film.
Apparently, this addition was made so that Mary doesn't have to go search for her kids alone once she discovers they're missing. At the end of the treatment, Mary and Keys show up around the same time as "Zrek" to hug the kids after they've been sprung from captivity.
Zrek Only Shows Up In The Final Act
Photo: Universal PicturesFollowing the treatment, E.T./Zrek doesn't appear in the film until he shows up to save the day at the very end. He somehow hears the kids crying out for help, which compels him to sneak onto the alien ship.
Upon his arrival, he's able to inexplicably break the kids out of their prison, effortlessly set a course for the ship to travel to "a remote corner of the galaxy," and escape in the nick of time with Elliot and company.
It's hard to say whether or not E.T. really would have been kept off screen for the majority of the film. Considering his name is featured prominently in the franchise's title, it seems likely that, in a more developed version of the script, there would have been multiple scenes depicting him lumbering across the countryside.
So How Could An E.T. Sequel Be Conceived As A Horror Film?
Photo: Universal PicturesThe defunct Night Skies would've been loosely based on the Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter, which centered on a family terrorized by hostile alien explorers. Elements were pulled from this story to create the original E.T., but Spielberg and Mathison apparently returned to it when writing Nocturnal Fears, this time leaning more heavily on the horrific aspects of the tale.
All things considered, it's actually more surprising that E.T. came out feeling as family-friendly as it did given how chilling the event that inspired it is.
Spielberg Is Grateful A Sequel Wasn't Made
Photo: Skage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0Hollywood.com quoted Spielberg as he spoke to the American Film Institute, saying:
Sequels can be very dangerous because they compromise your truth as an artist. I think a sequel to E.T. would do nothing but rob the original of its virginity. People only remember the latest episode, while the pilot tarnishes.
Spielberg is probably right, and especially so in this instance. The suggestion seems to be that he put the kibosh on moving forward with Nocturnal Fears, but whether or not that's the case is never explicitly stated.
Examining what does exist of the film, we should all be glad that E.T. 2 was never made, as it's extremely unlikely that a sequel could ever live up to what is one of the most beloved movies of all time. However, in the modern era of incessant reboots, who knows? Let's just hope that E.T. 2 doesn't happen for Zrek's sake.
