E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Steven Spielberg's family sci-fi classic E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) follows a boy named Elliott (Henry Thomas) and a small alien stranded on Earth. Elliott and his siblings attempt to help the alien return home while hiding him from his mother and government authorities. Elliott's younger sister is played by a then six-year-old Drew Barrymore.

The film was inspired by an imaginary friend Spielberg created after his parents' divorce in 1960. Two decades later, he developed the story with screenwriter Melissa Mathison, drawing from the shelved project Night Skies. The film was shot in an unusually chronological order to ensure the young actors delivered convincing emotional performances.

Distributed by Universal Pictures, the film became a box-office sensation and surpassed Star Wars - as the highest-grossing film of all time, it held the record until 1993, when Spielberg's Jurassic Park took over. On Rotten Tomatoes, it is regarded as the greatest science-fiction film ever made.