Drew Barrymore Celebrating ET’s 40th Anniversary With Steven Spielberg

Drew Barrymore is planning to celebrate the 40th anniversary of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial with Steven Spielberg and her two daughters. The director’s sci-fi classic was released in the summer of 1982 and starred a 7-year-old Barrymore as Gertie. In the film, her older brother, the 10-year-old Elliot (played by Henry Thomas), befriends an alien creature, which he discovers in their backyard and names E.T. The film also starred Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote, and Robert MacNaughton.

Though the concept for E.T. was based on an imaginary friend that Spielberg created after his parents’ divorce, its script was written by Melissa Mathison. After the titular alien quietly moves into the family’s suburban California home and the government catches wind of the situation, the film famously takes Elliot, Gertie, and others on a quest to return the stranded creature to his home planet as Agent Keys (Coyote) is hellbent on capturing him. Now, with yet another milestone on the horizon for the iconic film, its cast and director are making plans to commemorate the occasion.

While speaking to People, Barrymore says she is planning to celebrate the 40th anniversary of E.T. with Spielberg and her two daughters. The film’s director pointed out how special the upcoming anniversary will be considering that Barrymore’s daughters, Frankie and Olive, are about the same age as her when she starred in E.T. At 46 years of age, Barrymore has trouble wrapping her head around how it’s all about to come full circle. Read what she had to say below:

I‘ve actually been speaking with Steven Spielberg about it. He calls my girls who he held when they were babies, and he’s known them throughout their lives. I do want to revel in this moment with them and include them and celebrate with Steven. He’s a big father figure to me. So he’s like, “We’re not missing this moment with your kids.” I’m like, “Okay. You’re right. We can’t. You’re right.” This is very emotional and full circle. My kids are very close to the age that I was when E.T. came out. Frankie actually is at the age. She is 7, and she will just be turning 8, and Olive is 9. She’ll be turning 10. This is where I’m at, and they love Steven.

Barrymore has been incredibly open about the special father-daughter relationship she and Spielberg fostered on the E.T. set. Forty years after the film made her a household name, their bond continues to this day, with Spielberg now even playing a meaningful role in the lives of Barrymore’s daughters, who are now nearly the same age as when the director and actress first met on E.T. With another big anniversary coming up, it’s surely special for Barrymore to have Spielberg playing a similar parental role in her daughters’ lives.

To celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2002, E.T. was re-released with altered shots, visual effects and additional scenes. There doesn’t appear to be any similar plans this time around, as the 40th anniversary’s focus seems to be recognizing and celebrating the movie’s more intimate meaning and monumental legacy as one of the finest sci-fi films ever made. This June, fans will surely be celebrating the 40th anniversary of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial right alongside Barrymore and Spielberg.

Source: People

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Adam Bentz
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Adam Bentz is a movie and TV news writer for Screen Rant. From a young age, Adam has been interested in a wide range of movies and television, but it was talented auteurs like Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Aaron Sorkin who ultimately sparked his interest in the craft. Motivated by his love for the screen, Adam studied creative writing with a concentration in screenwriting at Southern New Hampshire University.

After graduating, Adam interned as a writer with The Borgen Project, a nonprofit organization working to end extreme poverty. Other than writing for Screen Rant, Adam reviews films on his website adambentz.wordpress.com

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