Editing E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (section)

=== Short film sequel ===
[[File:ET Comcast A Holiday Reunion.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Poster for ''A Holiday Reunion'']]
On November 28, 2019, during [[NBC]]'s broadcast of the [[Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade|93rd Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade]], [[Xfinity]] released a four-minute commercial directed by [[Lance Acord]], calling it a "short film sequel" to the original film, titled ''A Holiday Reunion''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.xfinity.com/et|title=E.T. is home for the holidays|website=Xfinity|access-date=December 3, 2019|archive-date=December 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203160953/https://www.xfinity.com/et|url-status=live}}</ref> The commercial stars Henry Thomas, reprising his role as Elliott, now an adult with a family of his own. Julianne Hoyak played his wife, Grace, while Zebastin Borjeau and Alivia Drews played their children, Elliott Jr. and Maggie. The story follows E.T. as he returns to Earth for the holiday season, and focuses on the importance of bringing family together. References and nods to the original film are featured, such as a photo of the Taylors' family dog Harvey on the kitchen fridge and a replica of the makeshift Speak & Spell communication device.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://deadline.com/2019/12/e-t-reunion-behind-the-scenes-featurette-shows-craft-of-revisiting-a-classic-1202802730/ | title='E.T.' Reunion Behind-The-Scenes Featurette Shows Craft of Revisiting a Classic | date=December 6, 2019 }}</ref>

The commercial utilizes a practical puppet for E.T. himself. In an interview with ''[[Deadline Hollywood|Deadline]]'', Acord said that he went this route in order to elicit more realistic performances from the actors, the same way Spielberg did on the original film. John Williams' score from the original film is mixed into the commercial. Spielberg was consulted by [[Comcast]] (parent company of [[NBCUniversal]], which itself owns Universal Pictures) before production on the commercial began.<ref name="Deadline Hollywood">{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2019/11/et-phone-home-again-reunion-short-film-premiere-nbc-and-syfy-universal-steven-spielberg-1202796382/|title='E.T.' Phones Home Again In Reunion Short Film Premiering On NBC And Syfy|first1=Dade|last1=Hayes|date=November 28, 2019|access-date=November 29, 2019|archive-date=November 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191129014509/https://deadline.com/2019/11/et-phone-home-again-reunion-short-film-premiere-nbc-and-syfy-universal-steven-spielberg-1202796382/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Peter Intermaggio, SVP for Marketing Communications for Comcast remarked on the making of the commercial: "Our goal is to show how Xfinity and Sky technology connects family, friends and loved ones, which is so important during the holidays ... The classic friendship between E.T. and Elliott resonates around the world." Before the commercial was released, Thomas assured that viewers would "get everything they want out of a sequel without the messy bits that could destroy the beauty of the original and the special place it has in people's minds and hearts ... Looking at the storyboards, I could see exactly why Steven was really behind it, because the integrity of the story isn't lost in this retelling."<ref name="Deadline Hollywood"/>

The full commercial also played on [[Syfy]] and theatrically during cinema pre-shows through January 5, 2020, and a two–minute version was edited for Comcast's British subsidiary, [[Sky UK]].<ref name="Deadline Hollywood"/>