The story of how Harrison Ford saved Steven Spielberg movie ‘E.T.’
Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg are a potent pairing. Together, the duo have worked on four highly-successful Indiana Jones movies, with each instalment helping to crystallise their respective legacies. As the release of the next entry in the saga – The Dial of Destiny – is imminent, it’s almost guaranteed that their greatness will again be rewarded with a successful box office return. For the sceptics, the project will mark Ford’s curtain call as the heroic archaeologist, which is a marketing godsend.
Although the pair will forever be connected through the hit adventure films, both actor and director share another more intriguing link. This comes via Ford’s instrumental role in helping to save Spielberg’s 1982 blockbuster, E.T., from development hell.
When interviewed at the 40th-anniversary screening of the flick at the TCM Classic Film Festival by The Hollywood Reporter, Spielberg shocked fans when he revealed that E.T. probably wouldn’t have materialised without Ford. The director explained that in the early 1980s, he was on the hunt for a screenwriter for the movie and figured that Melissa Mathison, the mind behind 1979’s The Black Stallion, would be perfect for the role. “I pretty much had worked out most of the story, and I needed a writer to write with me or, hopefully, write it based on the story,” Spielberg said.
However, Mathison initially turned him down. Not taking no for an answer, when Spielberg and Ford were in Tunisia filming the first Indiana Jones entry, 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, the director turned to the actor for help. The idea of E.T. greatly enthused Ford, and he eventually convinced Mathison – his then-girlfriend and future wife – to sign on for the screenplay.
“She said, ‘Well, I’m retired from writing. I don’t write anymore. I’m not interested in writing anymore, it’s too hard,” Spielberg continued. “I went to Harrison and said, ‘Your girlfriend turned me down. She doesn’t want to write my next movie.’ He said, ‘Well, let me talk to her.’ He talked to her, and she came to me the next day and said, ‘OK, you got Harrison so excited about this. What is it that I missed?’ I think I hadn’t told her the story very well because I told her the story again, and she got really emotional, and she committed right there in the Tunisian desert.”
The collaboration of Mathison and Spielberg proved fruitful, and the film went on to be a worldwide hit. Adding to this magic, she masterminded some of E.T.‘s most memorable aspects, including the timeless line, “E.T. phone home”, and the alien’s power of telekinesis.
The director also revealed that they worked on the script while the production of Raiders of the Lost Ark was still underway. “We would spend two hours a day for five days, and she would go off and write pages and come back,” he recalled. “There were so many details for the character that Melissa brought into my world from her world.”
Tragically, Mathison passed away from cancer in 2015, but not before she and Spielberg could team up once again for The BFG. Her work was always touched with wonder, and Spielberg’s vision helped to bring it to life. Sometimes the old adage of ‘it’s who you know’ isn’t so cynical after all.
