Steven Spielberg Details How Harrison Ford Helped Get ‘E.T.’ Made

[Edmilson 4514]

Steven Spielberg was in a nostalgic mood this week, appearing at the TCM Classic Film Festival to commemorate the 40th anniversary of “E.T. the Extra Terrestrial.” On the red carpet, he revealed that his beloved movie could have looked very different were it not for the help of frequent collaborator Harrison Ford.

Spielberg recalled that he came up with the idea for the film while shooting “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in Tunisia (via The Hollywood Reporter). He did not have time to write the script himself, but he thought he knew the perfect person for the job: Melissa Mathison, the screenwriter behind “The Black Stallion” who just happened to be dating Harrison Ford at the time.

“I pretty much had worked out most of the story and I needed a writer to write it with me, or write it just based on the story,” Spielberg said. “I was shooting in Tunisia; we were shooting outside the Well of the Souls with Harrison, and Harrison’s girlfriend Melissa Mathison was there on location…I was just talking to her and I told her my ‘E.T.’ idea, the whole story. And she said, ‘I’ve retired from writing, I don’t write anymore. I’m not interested in writing anymore. It’s too hard.’ She turned me down.”

Mathison may not have been interested, but Spielberg was not ready to give up on her yet. He took another route, opting to convince her by pitching the story to Harrison Ford first. It appears that his pitch resonated with Ford more than Mathison, as he ultimately convinced her to take the job.

“I went to Harrison and said, ‘Your girlfriend turned me down. She doesn’t want to write my next movie,’” Spielberg said. “He said, ‘Well, let me talk to her.’ He talked to her and she came to me the next day and said, ‘OK you got Harrison so excited about this. What is it that I missed?’ I think I hadn’t told her the story very well because I told her the story again and she got really emotional and she committed right there in the Tunisian desert.”

The collaboration turned out pretty well for both of them. “E.T. the Extra Terrestrial” was a massive hit, firmly embedding itself in American pop culture and winning four Oscars from nine nominations. Mathison received the sole writing credit, picking up an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay for her efforts. Mathison passed away in 2015, but she collaborated one final time with Spielberg on 2016’s “The BFG,” which he directed from a script she wrote.

 

https://www.indiewire.com/2022/04/steven-spielberg-harrison-ford-et-1234719099/

[Andy 2236]

And after all that, his cameo got cut!  A very nice story.

[Thor 5811]

On 24/04/2022 at 5:03 PM, Andy said:

And after all that, his cameo got cut!  A very nice story.

 

Well, he's still in it. But you only see his hands, hear his voice etc., not his face. A brilliant touch, in line with the child perspective of the film.

[Andy 2236]

Unless I'm mistaken, he's not the science teacher, he's the Principal in the levitating chair scene.  I thought that remained deleted, even for the 2002 edition.

[Disco Stu 15468]

It's not a good scene; correct choice to cut it.

[Naïve Old Fart 7533]

When E.T. was first released, there were a couple of photographs showing Elliott writing on a wall, and (I think) a glass window. Were these part of the deleted "principal" scene, or were they publicity shots?

[Luke Skywalker 1440]

I think the principal call home to elliots mother, is his voice heard there?

[Andy 2236]

2 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

When E.T. was first released, there were a couple of photographs showing Elliott writing on a wall, and (I think) a glass window. Were these part of the deleted "principal" scene, or were they publicity shots?

part of the deleted scenes. They showed up on Topps trading cards. 

[Jay 31058]

I don't see him writing on a wall in any of these

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/371403897093

[Holko 8034]

There's also that black and white photo of Elliot's mom laying topless and E.T. giving her Reese's Pieces? Please tell me I didn't make that up

[Naïve Old Fart 7533]

Unfortunately, @Holko, you did not make it up. That is one scene that Spielberg decided - wisely - to leave on the cutting room floor.

[mrbellamy 5624]

It's in that eBay card set Jay linked to lmao

 

[Jay 31058]

There it is!

[Holko 8034]

Whew. Though it's not the exact shot.

I always wonder how things like this make it so far that they're even filmed... unless for the sight on set? Ugh, I'll stop thinking about it now

[mrbellamy 5624]

I didn't see any black and white photos of him giving her the Reese's pieces but I did also find these lol

 

 

[Holko 8034]

Ah, that creepy stalking one was the one!

[Andy 2236]

4 hours ago, Jay said:

I don't see him writing on a wall in any of these

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/371403897093

Look again, it’s very hard to see. But if you want a better photo, the E.T. “Storybook” has it. 

 

 

 

🤔

 

[Naïve Old Fart 7533]

I knew it! Thanks, @Andy.

[Holko 8034]

Ahh now I remember that part in the novelization which I read 20 years ago! Also that Elliot wanted to paint his room all black.

 

E.T. was really lucky that he was an electrical engineer left behind! Would the cook or accountant have been able to build a callback signal generator from scratch? If their telepathics worked that far then even this one wouldn't have needed it.

 

(Written by an unbiased electrical engineer who certainly couldn't build something like it from scratch)

[Quintus 5394]

Ford would later dump her wonderful creative mind for a younger model. 

[Naïve Old Fart 7533]

6 hours ago, Holko said:

E.T. was really lucky that he was an electrical engineer left behind! Would the cook or accountant have been able to build a callback signal generator from scratch? 

Probably not, but I bet that he could whip up a short stack, while waiting for his pals to come back.

[Andy 2236]

E.T. was really lucky that he ended up in a house of hoarders in the 80s.  If he had landed in a minimalist household of today, there'd be no crucial sawblade or coffee can parts.  He'd just be holding the record player and thinking "dafuq?"

 

And it was today after 40 years of this movie that I realized Elliot's Family has no surname!  I wonder if Mathison originally wrote one.  Even the dysfunctional Neary's of CE3K had a last name.

 

And just for fun, here is Mathison and Harrison Ford looking like he just stepped out of the Amityville Horror.