The E.T. sequel

How have I managed for so long not to see this?

You realize, of course, that if E.T. had been made three years ago, this year we really would be watching this sequel, or something very much like it. As a matter of fact, Spielberg and E.T. writer Melissa Mathison did indeed write a treatment for a sequel where the E.T.s were evil, which is about as good an idea as Harper Lee going on the Food Network and publishing a book, To Cook a Mockingbird. (William Kotzwinkle, the unlikely author of the novelization of the original film, did publish a sequel, but not with evil E.T.s, thank God.)

This is a great story, all laid out in 'E.T.' 30th Anniversary: The Sequel That Never Was and Three Decades of Cameos. It's catnip for E.T. fans, especially those who saw The Phantom Menace on opening day...
.