ET The Extra-Terrestrial is one of those all-time classic films where a sequel would’ve completely ruined the magic. But while Steven Spielberg has decided against making a full-blown sequel, he has now acquiesced to a short film follow-up that sees ET and an adult Elliott reunite decades later.
Now this is fine and all, except for the fact that this ET The Extra-Terrestrial pseudo-sequel is nothing more than a glorified ad for Xfinity products.
Hey Steven Spielberg, you seemed pretty adamant that you weren’t going to make a sequel to ET The Extra-Terrestrial because you (rightfully) thought it would do nothing but tarnish the original film.
So what made you change your mind on letting other people make a follow-up film that’s in reality nothing more than an ad aimed at flogging Xfinity items? Is selling phones and smart TVs the future you envisioned for the beloved extra-terrestrial?
Guess we should’ve expected a sellout move like this at some point given his recent agenda against Netflix.
Annoyingly, the other big issue with this short film is that it’s actually pretty damn heartwarming. Selling out to Xfinity aside, there’s something truly touching in seeing ET and Elliott finally reuniting after all these years, having ET meet Elliott’s family, and everyone celebrating the holidays together.
This short film has stirred up a bunch of mixed feelings. On one hand, it managed to recapture the ET magic without all the messy parts while still respecting the original 1982 masterpiece.
But on the other hand, it’s still a goddamn advertisement for flogging Xfinity stuff.
It’s honestly tough to reconcile these two things with this short film because it feels wrong to see ET be used in such a capitalistic manner and yet it’s kind of great to see him again after all these years.
Perhaps ET should’ve stayed home a bit longer.