5 Best Sci-Fi Movies To Watch If You Love E.T.

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As a film critic, I have to say E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial remains a truly special movie – a cornerstone of 80s cinema and a sci-fi classic. It’s tough for anything to really compare, but if you’re an E.T. fan, I’ve found five films that share some of that same magic. It’s also fascinating to remember that Spielberg’s masterpiece wasn’t created in a vacuum; it built on earlier films, and in turn, influenced countless others. So, whether you’re looking for movies that inspired E.T. or those it went on to influence, there’s a rich cinematic world to explore.

Steven Spielberg is famous for making iconic alien movies like E.T., and he’s continuing that legacy with a new film coming out in 2026. Disclosure Day, releasing on June 12th, will be his first alien-themed movie since Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. While details about the plot are being kept secret, many fans are revisiting E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in anticipation of the new release.

5) Project Hail Mary

E.T. remains the most iconic movie about a friendship between a human and an alien, a theme we still see in films today. A recent example is the 2026 blockbuster Project Hail Mary, which follows astronaut Grace on a mission to save Earth from aliens that are consuming the sun. During her journey, Grace meets an alien she calls Rocky, who is on the same mission. To succeed and return home, Grace needs to become friends with Rocky and find a way to communicate with him.

While Project Hail Mary has bigger stakes and a more expansive, space-spanning story than E.T., it still shares the same heartwarming core: the friendship between a human and an alien. This connection is what made the original Spielberg film so beloved, and it’s a key part of what makes Project Hail Mary appealing too.

4) The Thing

As a huge movie fan, I always come back to John Carpenter’s The Thing from 1982. It’s easily one of the greatest alien films ever made – the story centers around a team of scientists in the Arctic who stumble upon an alien that can mimic any living creature. It’s wild how different it is from something like E.T. – E.T. is all heart and family fun, while The Thing is a genuinely terrifying and gruesome thriller. But even with those huge differences, the two films actually have a surprisingly cool connection!

Released in U.S. theaters on June 11, 1982, E.T. became a huge success, earning $797.3 million and becoming the highest-grossing film ever at the time. This created a challenge for The Thing, which premiered just two weeks later on June 25th. After E.T.’s heartwarming story of a friendly alien, audiences weren’t eager to see a scary alien movie. As a result, The Thing only earned $20.9 million despite costing $15 million to make. However, the contrast between the two films actually makes them interesting to watch together.

3) The Iron Giant

Ever since the success of E.T., movies about kids making friends with magical creatures have been incredibly popular. One standout example is the 1999 animated film The Iron Giant. It tells the story of a boy who finds a huge robot from outer space in the woods during the Cold War. Just like in E.T., the government quickly becomes interested in the robot, putting the friendship in danger. The Iron Giant is widely considered a classic animated film, and it’s a must-see for fans of both science fiction and animation.

2) War of the Worlds

Alien films became a recurring theme in Steven Spielberg’s work, and he continued making them for many years. While his 2008 film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, received mixed reviews, his previous alien movie was a success. Released in 2005, War of the Worlds tells the story of a father and his children trying to survive an alien invasion. Considered the most faithful adaptation of H.G. Wells’ novel, Spielberg’s version is notably more intense and frightening than his earlier films.

1) Close Encounters of the Third Kind

For fans of E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind – Steven Spielberg’s earlier film about aliens, released in 1977 – is a must-see. It’s about a man who believes he’s seen a UFO and dedicates himself to finding evidence and revealing the truth.

The movie E.T. originally started as a project called Night Skies, which was intended to be a scary story about a family haunted by aliens. It was meant to follow up on Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and included the idea of a friendly alien befriending a child. Spielberg ultimately decided to focus on that friendship, abandoning Night Skies and creating E.T., meaning E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial wouldn’t exist without Close Encounters.

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2026-06-10 21:13