TINSELTOWN SPYWITNESS.

Byline: Elizabeth Snead

ALIEN TERRITORY: There were some differences between the 1982 premiere of Steven Spielberg's ``E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' and the recent premiere of the updated film.

``Wow! This red carpet is much longer and much wider than the first one,'' said Henry Thomas, 30, who played Elliot and next will be seen in Martin Scorsese's ``Gangs of New York,'' rumored to be premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in May. ``And now we have fans!''

Fans Arnold Schwarzenegger, his wife, Maria Shriver, singer Melissa Etheridge, Alyson Hannigan, Marilu Henner and Ron Livingston (``The Practice'') were anxious to hear John Williams conduct the ``E.T.'' score live with a 100-piece orchestra and see the five minutes of new footage.

Spielberg was beaming, with wife Kate Capshaw and their children at his side. ``This is my most personal movie,'' the family man said. ``I wanted to bring 'E.T.' back so the people who saw it when they were kids could take their kids to see it. I want this to be a multigenerational experience.''

Which is just what it was for Robert McNaughton, who played Michael, the older brother. The blond dreadlocked ex-actor, 35, works at a Phoenix post office and was thrilled to bring his son, Noah, 5, to see his dad's film in a theater for the first time.

The twice-divorced Drew Barrymore, now 27, was but a pug-nosed, pig-tailed 6-year-old when the film was shot. But at the party, she looked sophisticated in white wide slacks, a peplum jeans jacket, her flaxen hair dyed dark brown, her baby blues rimmed with kohl.

Barrymore hugged godfather Spielberg and posed for photos with his new child star, Haley Joel Osment (``A.I. Artificial Intelligence'').

In '95, Spielberg sent his starlet a quilt for her birthday with a copy of the Playboy magazine in which she appeared nude (with clothing added by his art department) and a note that read ``Cover yourself up.''

ONE COOL MOTHER: Don't panic!

Jodie Foster looked calm and composed at the premiere of ``Panic Room,'' the new suspense flick in which she plays a divorced woman fighting for her daughter's life while outwitting psychotic burglars who tear her Manhattan mansion apart.

But Foster says her protective mother routine was no stretch.

``I've played a lot of mothers in the past, and I'm a very maternal person,'' Foster admits. ``I think intellectually I have always known that, but now, viscerally, it's more that I would do anything for my children. It's that when my child has a blister, I feel it. It's kind of hard to explain.''

It's not hard to explain the star presence at the after-party held at the Century Club Monday night. Director David Fincher's famous fans were out in force: Gary Oldman, Matthew Perry and the film's cast, including Ann Magnuson, Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam and hot new talent Kirsten Stewart, 11. Stewart, who plays Foster's daughter, is an avid skateboarder and landed the role largely because Foster saw so much of herself in the eerily self-composed youngster.

Brad Pitt, who starred in both Fincher's ``Fight Club'' and ``Seven,'' was the party's main attraction.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) SPIELBERG, BARRYMORE, THOMAS: They were right there

Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press

(2) FOSTER: ``Panic'' in a crowded theater

Chris Weeks/Associated Press