The Lost Ending of E.T.: How the Final Cut of the Movie Emerged

At the time of its release in 1982, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was something more than just a charming, enjoyable summer movie. It was also a phenomenon. People lined up around cinemas to see it, even sitting in the aisles of jam-packed theaters when it played. It remained within the top ten movies at the box office from June of 1982 until early February of 1983, going on to earn over 435 million dollars. It continued to be the top moneymaking movies of all time until the release of Titanic, 15 years later.

As a result, it's difficult to remember that E.T. was once just a simple, undeveloped idea, as all movies are. While creating the film was a labor of love for director Steven Spielberg, it did not exactly emerge as a finished product as soon as the last day of filming was wrapped.

Rather, it was carefully pieced together, as special effects were inserted, music for the movie was recorded, and Spielberg and the E.T.'s editor, Carol Littleton, went to work on assembling the footage filmed into the movie that would later be seen all over the world by eager audiences.

A handful of scenes were deleted from the E.T., mostly due to the need of moving the story along. (When E.T. was re-released in 2002, some of these scenes were cleaned up and reinserted by Spielberg; possibly to attract new audiences.)

However, one scene which was deleted from the film is somewhat curious. It appears to be an alternate ending of the movie. What is so unusual about it is that it suggests that while the movie was in development, the tone of its ending was also uncertain. This alternate ending is quieter in nature than its released equivalent. It is sober and emotional in its character, almost therapeutic. (Elliot delivers a monologue in the foreground as an adult, possibly a psychologist, sits listening in the background.)

Almost as if in a trance, Elliot speaks: "We come in peace. We've been on this journey for many days." Note the use of the word "we." Apparently, Elliot is either speaking cooperatively for E.T. and himself, for E.T. and E.T.'s shipmates, or for young teenagers such as himself. He is making a case for survival: "We are adventurous, searching for experience, and if we don't got any, then we're not going to be able to survive in this world." Up to this point, it does not appear to be clear where this scene was meant to be included in the film. But next, Elliot says, "Goodbye, E.T." To further emphasize this scene's theme of closure, the camera next pans out from above Elliot who is playing games again with his brother and friends, now a healthy young boy once more.

So, the questions which must be asked are 1.) Was this scene filmed for any other part of the movie? 2.) How was it intended to be presented in the finished film, should Spielberg have chosen to include it? 3.) Why was it nixed?

As to the first question, it does not appear that this scene was intended for another part of the movie, although it could conceivably fit into an area of the movie following E.T.'s disappearance in the forest or possibly after his death. However, the tone of the scene does not seem to suggest that it would belong anywhere except at the end of the film.

As to the second question, should Spielberg have chosen to include this scene in the finished movie, it probably would have followed the released ending. Clearly, E.T. needed to say goodbye to everyone and fly away in his spaceship, so this alternate ending could not have been filmed to substitute in any way for the released ending. Apparently, this second ending was filmed for the purpose of bringing the story back down to earth, so that children would not walk away from the theater thinking that magic would solve every problem in their lives.

As to the final question, it was probably nixed because it was anti-climatic. Also, the writing and acting is somewhat sub-par in this scene. Even if it had been written to avoid an awkward phrase like "if we don't got any...", the scene still does not have a clear message, and seems to say several things without saying anything clearly.

By pulling this scene out, Spielberg appears to have remembered that in a movie, an uplifting, magical ending is allowable, and -- in the case of E.T. -- even hoped for by audiences. While this alternate scene provides a certain degree of closure to the story which is not included in the released film, it is unfortunately a type of closure that was not required by audiences in 1982, who only wanted to enjoy the special story of E.T.