'E.T.' director Steven Spielberg rues editing firearms out of film

Elite Hollywood director Steven Spielberg admitted he regrets editing guns out of his Sci-Fi feature E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

During a master class at the Time 100 Summit, the filmmaker revealed that in the 20th anniversary release of the 1982 film, he edited a scene depicting officers chasing children with weapons; replacing the firearms with walkie talkies.

“That was a mistake,” Spielberg said. “I never should have done that. E.T. is a product of its era. No film should be revised based on the lenses we now are, either voluntarily, or being forced to peer through.”

“‘E.T.’ was a film that I was sensitive to the fact that the federal agents were approaching kids with firearms exposed and I thought I would change the guns into walkie talkies… Years went by and I changed my own views,” Spielberg continued.

The filmmaker expressed his remorse at censoring his own work, and advised the audience against doing that. The Titanic director added that films emulate the culture and ideologies of the time they are made in and shouldn’t be altered.

“I should have never messed with the archives of my own work, and I don’t recommend anyone do that. All our movies are a kind of a signpost of where we were when we made them, what the world was like and what the world was receiving when we got those stories out there. So I really regret having that out there.”

Spielberg's latest directorial creation The Fabelmans, was nominated for seven Oscars, counting best picture and best director.