Although the movie was a hit, the "E.T. The Extraterrestrial" Atari 2600 video game was not.

Video game makers had only 40 days to complete this game because they wanted to release it in time for the 1982 Christmas shopping season. The E.T. video game was unplayable, and five million of the six million game cartridges that were produced never sold.

Video game makers decided to try again in 2002 to create E.T. video games for the movie's 20th anniversary. While these games weren't financial fiascos, none were the blockbusters that the movie was.