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Shortly after E.T. opened in theaters in June 1982, screenwriters for the first film, Steven Spielberg and Melissa Mathison, set to work on a treatment for a sequel, tentatively titled E.T. II: Nocturnal Fears. The 10 page treatment was completed during the first film's theatrical run and remains the only attempt at making a sequel to the beloved film.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uRZl_nL1J41lvskLDhsDv8fr8eMX0Kx1/view?usp=sharing
And it is AWFUL.
A lot of the ideas in the treatment seem to be comprised of unused concepts for the Steven Spielberg-written film Poltergeist, which had also released around that time. Gone are the magic and whimsy of the first film. Now the sequel focuses on EVIL aliens coming to earth, attracted by the "phone home" signal Elliott sent out in the first film. The aliens are carnivorous mutations of E.T.'s civilization - the two groups have apparently been warring with each other for years (hmm... did Predators (2010) rip this off?). In this film, E.T.'s actual name is revealed to be Zrek - the evil aliens are pursuing him in this film...for some reason, probably just because the two groups are natural enemies and simply wish to do each other harm however possible.
The majority of the treatment is mostly stuck in the sort of creative rut that is symptomatic of films that have no idea how to expand the story without rehashing several motifs and thematic elements - it reads very similarly to Cocoon II in which there is no reason to continue a story with the same cast of characters. Perhaps what would be the most controversial aspect of this "film" would be the point where the children--Elliott and the others--are captured by the evil aliens and tortured extensively for E.T.'s location. Why the inclusion of such a sadistic turn of events was ever thought to be a good idea in this treatment, only Mr. Spielberg knows the answer to that question. After all, who would think that watching a young Drew Barrymore "scream and cry to her mother and E.T. for help" is captivating cinema?
Yet, even after all this, the treatment is bold enough (/s) to shower the audience with a "sunshine and butterflies" ending by having E.T. show up (presumably in the last few minutes of the movie--he doesn't even show up in person until the last page of the treatment!) and rescue the kids while simultaneously banishing the evil aliens to a "remote part of the galaxy." And it ends on this treacly note: "There is HOPE in everyone's eyes as they all, agai
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