--- ---  # E.T. and Elliott Reuniting for the Holidays Is the Gift You Didn't Know You Needed  by [Madeleine Carlisle](https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/)  ## Madeleine Carlisle Nov 28, 2019 6:10 PM UTC  Henry Thomas on the set of "E.T." Henry Thomas on the set of "E.T."Corbis/Getty Images  by [Madeleine Carlisle](https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/)  ## Madeleine Carlisle Nov 28, 2019 6:10 PM UTC Everyone’s favorite extraterrestrial E.T. has reunited with his best buddy Elliott, and it honestly feels like [Christmas](https://time.com/5715268/best-christmas-rom-coms-2019/) has come early. In a nostalgic new commercial from internet and cable company Xfinity, the titular character from Steven Spielberg’s [classic 1982 movie](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0087F7VSY/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B0087F7VSY&linkId=c37118e74051a37680a0e91cf32fff23) makes a surprise trip back to Earth to surprise a grown up Elliott (and his family). Actor Henry Thomas, who starred in E.T. as a child, even reprises his role. E.T. first surprises Elliott’s kids, before reuniting with the whole family in a very touching reunion. “A lot’s changed since you were here,” Elliott says, showing E.T. a touch screen tablet, the Internet, and a virtual reality headset. (In other words, lots of opportunities for E.T. to phone home this time, or to announce his next visit in advance so that there’s enough snacks to go around.) Easter eggs for fans of the film are sprinkled throughout the ad. Look for the hand-me-down toys, for example, and Elliott’s son wearing similar pajamas to those from the original movie. E.T. still likes Reese’s Pieces and live flowers; he and Elliott’s kids fly in bicycles silhouetted by the full moon, before the little alien touches Elliott’s son’s heart and reminds him “I’ll be right here.” I won’t lie, I teared up a little. Eventually E.T. heads back to his own family, flying off to [John Williams’ iconic soundtrack](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SPN16F2/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B00SPN16F2&linkId=18b4c484be67465a5564681467fdbcbc). It was a brief visit, but presumably even interstellar [traffic over the holidays](https://time.com/5738199/thanksgiving-travel-weather-2019/) is a nightmare. New Xfinity Ad Features E.T. Reuniting With Elliott ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5741259/et-movie-elliott-reunion-xfinity-commercial/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5741259/et-movie-elliott-reunion-xfinity-commercial/"},"headline":"E.T. and Elliott Reuniting for the Holidays Is the Gift You Didn't Know You Needed","datePublished":"2019-11-28T18:10:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:01:05.186Z","description":"Easter eggs from the 1982 film are sprinkled throughout the ad—can you spot them?","url":"https://time.com/5741259/et-movie-elliott-reunion-xfinity-commercial/","keywords":["Newsfeed","movies","commercials","Holidays","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte494206cdb91fa67/698a06c2457a5250c0d632fe/et-xfinity-commercial.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Madeleine Carlisle","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte494206cdb91fa67/698a06c2457a5250c0d632fe/et-xfinity-commercial.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"On the set of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial","caption":"On the set of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial","creditText":"Corbis/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5741259/et-movie-elliott-reunion-xfinity-commercial/","name":"E.T. and Elliott Reuniting for the Holidays Is the Gift You Didn't Know You Needed"}}]}] ```