When production started on E.T. more than twenty years ago, none of us could have dreamed there would be a twentieth anniversary release and a book such as this. We had no illusions about the ultimate success of the film, but we knew it was a story we wanted to tell and we told it the way we wanted to tell it, You will get a real sense of that as you go through this journey with me and those who joined in bringingE.T. and E.T. to life. We want to invite you into our filmmaking family and take you behind the scenes-behind the magic, surprises, and emotional experiences that meant so much in our own lives."