WI: Tobe Hooper directed E.T.

Recently, the director for the Sam Raimi produced remake of Poltergeist was announced (Gil Kenan, director of Monster House, for those who are curious). This news led me to read up on the original film. I'm not sure how true it is, but I have read Spielberg offered Tobe Hooper the chance of directing E.T., but Hooper passed.

So, assuming this is true, what if Hooper agreed to direct E.T. instead of agreeing to direct Poltergeist?
 
Maybe E.T. is bit darker than OTL E.T. But it is hard imagine how could that become horror movie. I don't wonder that Hooper didn't want project.
 
So Hooper takes the project offered to him, so Spielberg would direct Poltergeist as planned? Does this mean that the horror film is now the second highest grossing film for most of the 80's and early 90's?

Also curious, does anyone know the month and year this happened?
 
Maybe E.T. is bit darker than OTL E.T. But it is hard imagine how could that become horror movie. I don't wonder that Hooper didn't want project.
Yeah, I don't seeing becoming a straightforward horror movie, but I can see some horror elements being played up to play to Hooper's strength. Maybe the authorities searching for E.T. are made more sinister and terrifying, more in line with the way men in black are depicted in stories about encounters with aliens and UFOs. This might make the movie suffer from mood whiplash though.
So Hooper takes the project offered to him, so Spielberg would direct Poltergeist as planned? Does this mean that the horror film is now the second highest grossing film for most of the 80's and early 90's?
A Spielberg directed Poltergeist having the sort of success at the box office E.T. had in OTL would be interesting. It would surely have a big impact on the horror genre. I could see a lot more haunted house movies released in the 80s compared to OTL.

Maybe there will be a few less slashers released, seeing how the studios might feel the haunted house sub-genre is the next big trend in horror and throw their support behind them instead of the slashers. Only a few though, seeing how slashers are fairly cheep to make.
 
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