Though one could imagine that there’s two parallel universes exist where that film doesn’t happen, and Blade Runner or John Carpenter’s The Thing became box-office hits.
Steven Spielberg’s career as a filmmaker would have been a totally different enterprise should E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial had never existed, and a ton of other films may have been lost as a result of that failure.
So do with that fact what you may the next time you cry over Elliot and E.T.’s tearful farewell, and take comfort in the fact that E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial will be right here for your heart to enjoy forever.