12 Things You Probably Never Knew About E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

Melissa Mathison was partly responsible for Spielberg’s sudden change of heart regarding Night Skies. The late screenwriter was visiting her then-boyfriend and future husband Harrison Ford on the set of Raiders of the Lost Ark when Spielberg showed her the Night Skies script, and found her to be particularly moved by the idea of a benevolent alien create striking up a relationship with a child who came from a broken home.

Despite knowing that his decision would anger a lot of people (the construction of his alien invaders was already well underway, after all), Spielberg put the brakes on Night Skies and asked Mathison if she would write a new script based on the elements of the original that she enjoyed. She initially refused to interfere with Spielberg’s work, though the director had his Raiders of the Lost Ark star Harrison Ford lean on his partner and eventually she relented.

Her first draft was entitled E.T. and Me and Spielberg deemed it near-perfect. After a few tweaks that included the title (it was decided that not enough people knew what E.T. stood for at the time) were made, the film was given the green light and history was in the making.