Steven Spielberg Details How Harrison Ford Helped Get ‘E.T.’ Made

Steven Spielberg was in a nostalgic mood this week, appearing at the TCM Classic Film Festival to commemorate the 40th anniversary of “E.T.

the Extra Terrestrial.” On the red carpet, he revealed that his beloved movie could have looked very different were it not for the help of frequent collaborator Harrison Ford.Spielberg recalled that he came up with the idea for the film while shooting “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in Tunisia (via The Hollywood Reporter).

He did not have time to write the script himself, but he thought he knew the perfect person for the job: Melissa Mathison, the screenwriter behind “The Black Stallion” who just happened to be dating Harrison Ford at the time.“I pretty much had worked out most of the story and I needed a writer to write it with me, or write it just based on the story,” Spielberg said.

“I was

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