The upcoming book “Stranded on Earth: How Night Skies Became E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial” details how the two entertainers helped the studio before the movie’s release.

How Michael Jackson and Richard Pryor helped ease racial concerns over *E.T. *(exclusive)

The upcoming book “Stranded on Earth: How Night Skies Became E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial” details how the two entertainers helped the studio before the movie’s release.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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August 20, 2026 10:00 a.m. ET

Michael Jackson in 1988; E.T. in ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’; Richard Pryor in 1987. Credit:

Michael Ochs Archive/Getty; Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty; Getty Images/Bob Riha, Jr.

- A new book about the history of *E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial* features an interview with former Universal executive Thom Mount.

- The exec said that he arranged a screening of the movie for Richard Pryor and Michael Jackson to see how Black audiences would respond to the film.

- *Stranded on Earth: How Night Skies Became E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial *releases on Oct. 27.

A new book is pulling back the curtain on the making of *E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial* — and revealing two massive stars who helped vouch for the movie’s quality.

Author Max Evry has penned a new book exploring the history of Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi classic, *Stranded on Earth: How Night Skies Became E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial*. The book features interviews with a number of actors, filmmakers, and industry professionals, including stars Henry Thomas and Dee Wallace as well as directors like John Carpenter, Joe Dante, Bob Gale, and Ernest Dickerson.

Henry Thomas and E.T. in ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’.

Universal/Getty

Among the interviewees is Thom Mount, a studio executive and producer who worked for Universal at the time of *E.T.*‘s production and release. Before the film hit theaters, Mount says in the book that there were some concerns about the lack of diversity in the cast, as practically every actor in the movie is white. To gauge how the film might be received, Mount sought the help of a pair of superstars.

“Steven wanted some people of color to see it, to see what their response was,” Mount says in the book. “I got that request, put together a screening, and called Richard Pryor, who was under contract, asked him to come watch this movie. And I called Michael Jackson.”

Fotos International/Archive Photos/Getty

Pryor and Jackson, who had previously starred together in *The Wiz* four years prior, helped the studio evaluate how Black audiences might respond to the movie.

“They had the advantage of both being Black, and they saw the movie and loved it, flipped out over it,” the exec says in the book. “They were both crying. That erased worry on the part of marketing that we would have to stay away from Black audiences because the movie was so white.”

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Mount also hoped that Pryor and Jackson would help promote the movie in one way or another. “I thought, ‘Now we have a couple of industry leaders who are people of color who can talk about having seen the movie,’” he says in the book. “Richard did that for us. Richard did some late-night talk shows: ‘I just saw this great movie about this extraterrestrial thing.’”

He continues, “He made jokes about it, but you could tell he was really moved by the movie and that kind of commentary could help us everywhere... and it did.”

Michael Jackson.

Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Later, when Universal released John Williams’ soundtrack for *E.T.*, the album also included a recording of Jackson narrating the story as an audiobook. The singer won the Grammy for Best Recording for Children for his work on the album in 1984 at the same ceremony where he won seven awards for *Thriller*. As he accepted the *E.T. *Grammy, Jackson said, “Of all the awards I’ve gotten, I’m most proud of this one, honestly. Because I think children are a great inspiration, and this album is not for children; it’s for everyone.”

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*Stranded on Earth* charts how Spielberg’s unrealized alien horror movie *Night Skies* eventually evolved into *E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial*. The book will be released on October 27.

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