Classic Movie ET: The Extra-Terrestrial Gets Unexpected Seasonal Sequel

Steven Spielberg's classic movie ET: The Extra-Terrestrial is one of the most beloved movies of the 1980s and remained the most financially successful movie of all time for over 10 years. It's also one of the few modern blockbusters never to get a sequel. Although Spielberg did briefly consider making a follow-up, he ultimately decided the original should be left alone. But after nearly four decades, a sequel has arrived--sort of.

The follow-up to ET: The Extra-Terrestrial is not a movie, but a four-minute commercial for Xfinity titled "A Holiday Reunion." But while the whole thing is clearly designed to sell you the company's internet and cable services, it's actually well worth watching. For a start, Henry Thomas, who starred in the original movie as 8-year-old Elliot, is back. Elliot is now a middle-aged man with a family of his own, and ET comes to visit them at Christmas. The friendly alien plays snowballs, surfs the web, watches old movies, and then--of course--takes Elliot's kids on a magical airborne bike ride. John Williams' iconic score is used throughout, and it's nice to see they've used an old-school puppet for ET rather than a CG version. Check it out below:

Xfinity is owned by Comcast, which is also the parent company of Universal, who released the original movie. However, Deadline reports that the commercial was made with the full approval of Spielberg, and while he was not involved creatively, he was "consulted throughout the process."

In related news, Thomas is set to appear in the upcoming Netflix horror series The Haunting of Bly Manor. The actor starred in last year's The Haunting of Hill House and will play a role in the follow-up show, which is based on the classic novel The Turn of the Screw. It will be written and directed by Mike Flanagan once more and releases in 2020.