Steven Spielberg's 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial spawned an official sequel in 1985, though few gamers or film enthusiasts remember it exists. E.T.: The Book of the Green Planet, a novel written by William Kotzwinkle, serves as the canonical follow-up to the blockbuster film. Polygon reports the book remains part of E.T.'s official story.
The novel picked up where the movie left off, exploring E.T.'s return to his home planet and introducing new characters and worlds beyond Earth. However, the book never achieved mainstream recognition. Unlike the film's cultural juggernaut status, the 1985 novel faded into obscurity almost immediately upon release. Few casual fans know it exists, and it certainly never received the adaptation or franchise expansion that typically follows beloved intellectual property.
This raises an interesting question for modern storytelling: does canon matter when audiences don't know the canonical material exists? The book's official status means it technically shapes E.T.'s universe, yet it has zero cultural footprint compared to Spielberg's original film. The disconnect reflects how sequels and expanded universes function in the pre-internet, pre-streaming era. Without aggressive marketing, merchandising, or adaptation into other media formats, even official sequels could vanish.
The E.T. franchise never leveraged this book the way it could have. No graphic novel adaptation, no remaster, no modern hardcover release with renewed marketing push. It simply sat in libraries and used bookstores, unknown to generations of fans who grew up loving the film.
Today, this raises questions about legacy and canon in gaming and film. The video game adaptation of E.T. on the Atari 2600 became infamous as one of gaming's worst products. Yet E.T.: The Book of the Green Planet