While the great Steven Spielberg has given me some of my most awesome cinema experiences over the years, he's also dealt me a smattering of duds along the way too.
I recall having huge anticipation for his contemporary 'War of the Worlds' adaption when I saw it's original teaser, but that turned out to be almost as big a let-down for me as his 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' alien shenanigans.
I still think Tom Cruise was distractingly miscast in the 'everyman' role for that, as I'd have preferred a relative unknown instead, but that's just my own bugbear. And even though I've come to appreciate it a little more since it's 2005 release, I would much prefer a re-watch of Byron Haskin's retro-tastic 'The War of the Worlds' from 1953 for that particular tale.
However, I'll always love 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' and 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' for their sense of wonder, and I'm rooting for Spielberg to dish up another fun 'UFO/alien' offering next summer.
Personally I'd be more than happy for it to be something along the lines of his abandoned
'Night Skies' scenario featuring a group of malevolent alien 'scientists' who get up to no good with an unsuspecting family at their rural farmhouse. A story involving several scary E.T.s as Spielberg originally intended, could be more easily done now considering how far CGI has come, so we'll see what pans out.
And I always liked the look of this early concept by Rick Baker, with it's slight resemblance to Edward G. Robinson! -
Here's some info. about what went down with 'Night Skies' at the time - https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/the-real-story-behind-those-rick-baker-night-skies-photos-85112/
