Melissa Mathison, the screenwriter behind E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and several other films, died Wednesday in Los Angeles after battling neuroendocrine cancer for several months. She was 65.
Mathison received an Oscar nomination for E.T., which she said she wrote in a tiny office in Hollywood. Steven Spielberg worked closely with Mathison to develop the concept of the film. In a statement released Wednesday, he said: "Melissa had a heart that shined with generosity and love and burned as bright as the heart she gave E.T." In the DVD commentary for a special edition of E.T., Spielberg said Mathison, who was also an associate producer on the movie, delivered a 107-page first draft of the film, and he read it in about an hour. "I was just knocked out," he said. "It was a script I was willing to shoot the next day. It was so honest, and Melissa's voice made a direct connection with my heart."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
'Although deepfake porn is a global problem, South Korea has been hit particularly hard'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
The deadliest plane crashes in US historyThe Explainer American Eagle Flight 5342 was the first deadly U.S. passenger crash since 2009
-
How Elon Musk is transforming American governmentTalking Points Trump's ally is moving 'with lightning speed'
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top GrammysSpeed Read Beyoncé took home album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' and Kendrick Lamar's diss track 'Not Like Us' won five awards
-
The Louvre is giving 'Mona Lisa' her own roomSpeed Read The world's most-visited art museum is getting a major renovation
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talksSpeed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tourSpeed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamationSpeed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia
-
'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' ignite holiday box officeSpeed Read The combination of the two movies revitalized a struggling box office
-
Jussie Smollet conviction overturned on appealSpeed Read The Illinois Supreme Court overturned the actor's conviction on charges of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019
-
Quincy Jones, music icon, is dead at 91Speed Read The legendary producer is perhaps best known as the architect behind Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'
