Steven Spielberg ‘Flirted’ With Making an ‘E.T.’ Sequel and Then Fought Against the Studio Wanting One: ‘That Was a Real Hard-Fought Victory’

variety.com:

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Steven Spielberg recently reunited with his “E.T.” actor Drew Barrymore at the TCM Classic Film Festival: New York Pop-Up  x  92NY (via Total Film) and revealed that he once “flirted” with the idea of making a sequel to “E.T.” But the Oscar winner ultimately decided a sequel was not the right idea, although the studio pushed him to make one. “E.T.” opened in theaters in 1982 and became such a cultural sensation that it surpassed “Star Wars” to become the highest-grossing movie ever at the time.

No wonder the studio wanted a sequel. “That was a real hard-fought victory because I didn’t have any rights,” Spielberg said about squashing a an “E.T.” sequel. “Before ‘E.T.,’ I had some rights, but I didn’t have a lot of rights.

I kind of didn’t have what we call ‘the freeze,’ where you can stop the studio from making a sequel because you control the freeze on sequels, remakes and other ancillary uses of the IP.

I didn’t have that. I got it after ‘E.T.’ because of its success.” “I just did not want to make a sequel,” he continued. “I flirted with it for a little bit – just a little bit to see if I [could] think of a story – and the only thing I could think about was a book that was written by called ‘The Green Planet,’ which was all going to take place at E.T.’s home.