Michael Jackson and Richard Pryor were given an early look at E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial before the movie became a worldwide phenomenon, and the reason had little to do with ordinary celebrity promotion.
Universal was concerned about how the film’s overwhelmingly white cast might affect its reception among Black moviegoers. According to a newly revealed account from former Universal executive Thom Mount, Steven Spielberg wanted people of color to see the movie in advance, leading Mount to turn to two of the biggest Black entertainers of the era.
Mount arranged a private screening for Jackson and Pryor before the movie’s 1982 release. Both men became emotional while watching it, a response that helped ease concerns within Universal’s marketing operation, according to Entertainment Weekly’s exclusive excerpt from Max Evry’s upcoming book Stranded on Earth: How Night Skies Became E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
The story adds another chapter to the history of a movie that nearly took a dramatically different form. Before Elliott met the gentle stranded alien audiences know as E.T., Spielberg had been developing a much darker project about hostile extraterrestrial visitors.
Universal Wanted to Know How Black Audiences Might Respond
Mount, a studio executive and producer who worked at Universal during the production and release of E.T., recalled concerns about the film’s lack of racial diversity because practically every actor in it was white.
“Steven wanted some people of color to see it, to see what their response was,” Mount said in Evry’s book, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Mount was tasked with arranging the screening. He contacted Pryor, who was under contract at the time, and Jackson and invited them to watch the unfinished phenomenon before audiences had a chance to make it one.
The choice also brought together two entertainers with an existing professional connection. Jackson and Pryor had both appeared in the 1978 movie musical The Wiz, with Jackson playing the Scarecrow and Pryor portraying the title character.
Jackson and Pryor’s Reaction Eased Universal’s Concerns
Whatever uncertainty existed before the screening diminished once the movie started. Mount recalled that Jackson and Pryor “loved it” and were both crying by the time they watched the film. He said their reaction helped erase the marketing department’s concern that Universal might need to avoid aggressively pursuing Black audiences because E.T. itself was “so white.”
Mount also saw another potential benefit. If Jackson and Pryor genuinely loved the movie, they could talk publicly about it in a way that might help the studio reach audiences who had not necessarily seen themselves represented on screen.
Pryor did exactly that. Mount remembered the comedian discussing E.T. during late-night television appearances, joking about the extraterrestrial while making it obvious that the movie had genuinely moved him. According to Mount, that kind of endorsement ultimately helped Universal well beyond the private screening room.
Michael Jackson’s Connection to E.T. Continued After the Movie
Jackson’s connection to E.T. did not end with the prerelease screening. He later narrated the story for an audiobook and soundtrack companion album produced by Quincy Jones. The project arrived during an extraordinary period in Jackson’s music career, around the same time Thriller was turning him into the biggest pop star in the world.
His E.T. work earned him the Grammy for Best Recording for Children at the 1984 ceremony. The Recording Academy later revisited the moment, noting that Jackson won eight Grammys that night, including seven connected to Thriller and the children’s recording award for E.T..
The latter clearly held special meaning for him. “Of all the awards I’ve gotten, I’m most proud of this one,” Jackson said during his acceptance speech, explaining that he considered children an inspiration while emphasizing that the recording was meant for everyone.
E.T. Grew Out of a Much Darker Spielberg Alien Project
The Jackson and Pryor story appears in Evry’s Stranded on Earth, which traces the complicated path that eventually produced Spielberg’s 1982 classic. Long before E.T. took its familiar form, Spielberg was developing Night Skies, a much darker science-fiction horror project involving hostile extraterrestrials terrorizing a family.
The project never reached production, but several of its ideas survived. As Nerdist explained in its preview of Evry’s book, Night Skies gradually helped give rise to the gentler relationship between a child and an alien that became E.T..
Other elements found new lives elsewhere. The concept of a family under siege fed into Poltergeist, while the idea of one benevolent creature among more dangerous ones helped influence Gremlins.
Evry’s book reconstructs that evolution through new interviews with actors, filmmakers, artists and studio figures connected to Spielberg’s work, including Mount’s previously little-known account of the Jackson and Pryor screening. More than four decades later, the unusual screening is one of the stories resurfacing through Stranded on Earth, which is scheduled for release on Oct. 27.