E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed bySteven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Robert MacNaughton,Drew Barrymore, Dee Wallace and Peter Coyote. It tells the story of Elliott (played by Thomas), a lonely boy who befriends a friendly extraterrestrial, dubbed "E.T.", who is stranded on Earth. Elliott and his siblings help the extraterrestrial return home while attempting to keep it hidden from their mother and the government.
The concept for E.T. was based on an imaginary friend Spielberg created after his parents' divorce. In 1980, Spielberg met Mathison and developed a new story from the stalled science fiction/horror film project Night Skies. The film was shot from September to December 1981 in California on a budget of US$10.5 million. Unlike most motion pictures, the film was shot in roughly chronological order, to facilitate convincing emotional performances from the young cast.
Released by Universal Studios, E.T. was a blockbuster, surpassing Star Wars to become the most financially successful film released to that point. Critics acclaimed it as a timeless story of friendship, and it ranks as the best science fiction film ever made in a Rotten Tomatoes survey. The alien became the subject of analogies for Jesus. The film was rereleased in 1985, and then again in2002 with altered special effects and additional scenes. Spielberg believes E.T. epitomizes his work
