E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Timing: 1:55 (115 min)

7.513/10
11914

6.06/10
449

0/10
0

All about film

Video 35

Photo 134

Actors and characters

Release date

1982-06-11

Country

United States

Production

Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment

Genre

Science Fiction, Adventure, Family, Fantasy

Budget

$10 500 000

Revenue

$797 307 407

Website

Director

Steven Spielberg

Actors

Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Robert MacNaughton, Peter Coyote, Dee Wallace, Erika Eleniak, K.C. Martel, C. Thomas Howell, Sean Frye, David M. O'Dell
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Melissa Mathison

Producer

Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy

Operator

Allen Daviau

Composer

John Williams

Artist

Audition

Jane Feinberg, Mike Fenton, Marci Liroff

Editing

Carol Littleton, Frank Marshall
All team (65)

• During the audition, Henry Thomas recalled the day his dog died in order to portray the sadness of his character. His face was so sad that director Steven Spielberg himself cried and immediately gave the boy the lead role in the film.
• The Alien's face was modeled after poet Carl Sandburg, Albert Einstein, and a pug dog.
• The communicator constructed by the Alien actually worked and was created by Henry Feinberg, an expert in interpreting science and technology for the general public.
• Steven Spielberg shot much of the film at a child's eye level to better show the connection between Elliott and the Alien.
• The voice of the Alien is performed by Pat Welsh with contributions from Debra Winger and Steven Spielberg.
• Steven Spielberg arranged a private screening of the film at the White House for U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan.
• The film's script was written during the production of "Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) in between takes. Steven Spielberg dictated the plot to Melissa Mathison, as she was the screenwriter and was there with her husband, Harrison Ford.
• Almost a tenth of the extraordinarily low total budget (10.5 million dollars) went towards creating E.T. himself.
• The shot of Elliott and E.T. flying on a bicycle against the backdrop of the moon became the trademark of Amblin Entertainment.
• Elliott's last name is never mentioned in the film.
• The project's initial title was "A Boy's Life." The film acquired its final title only during the shooting process.
• Steven Spielberg and Melissa Mathison considered creating a sequel titled "Nightmares," where Elliott and his friends were kidnapped by hostile aliens, and E.T. rescued them.
• From January 16, 1983, to February 12, 1997, the film held the top spot among the highest-grossing films in the history of American box office.
• Italian special effects master Carlo Rambaldi created three models of E.T. with a total cost of $700,000. They were made of special rubber and fiberglass and contained numerous electronic devices. The models had different functions: the first was purely mechanical; it was attached to the floor and could make 30 different movements with parts of the face and another 30 movements with different parts of the body. The second model was automatic, electronic, and could make 86 types of movements. The third model could only make 10 types of movements, but was autonomous; it was used in scenes where movement needed to be shown. In cases where none of the models could provide a sufficiently believable "living" impression (such episodes accounted for about 15% of the screen time), little people and a 12-year-old boy, born without legs (this detail was not publicized at the time), participated in the filming: Pat Bilon, Tamara De Treaux, and Matthew De Merritt. They wore an E.T. mask and "costume" that were controlled with electronics.
• Four E.T. heads were separately manufactured for filming various special effects developed by Industrial Light and Magic.
• A curious fact, little known to advertising historians: the film features a scene where Elliott lays a trail to the house for the alien guest using colorful chocolate "buttons." The M&M's company refused to provide its product, which "melts in your mouth, not in your hand," to the film, stating that the sight of the repulsive-looking E.T. would scare children and adults away from sweets. Instead, Hershey's won out, and their colorful Reese's Pieces tablets became extraordinarily popular immediately after the film's premiere. Their sales increased by 65 percent. However, there was another "loser" in the chocolate story—the Milk Duds corporation refused Spielberg on the grounds that the sight of a space guest chewing colorful caramels was "painfully unappetizing."
• Shelley Long was initially offered the role of the children's mother, but she had already agreed to star in Ron Howard's "Night Shift" (1982) and was forced to decline.
• Spielberg's original concept was much darker, featuring aliens terrorizing a family in their own home. This concept was later used in "Poltergeist" (1982).
• The scene where Elliott's mother looks into the closet and sees the alien surrounded by toys, pretending to be one of them, was conceived by Robert Zemeckis.
• Debra Winger not only temporarily voiced E.T., but also appeared in a single Halloween scene. She is dressed in a mask, lab coat, and is leading a poodle.
• The song sung by Elliott's brother, Michael, while looking in the refrigerator is called "Accidents Will Happen" and was written by Elvis Costello.
• The real name of Keys (Peter Coyote's character) is never revealed.
• Besides Yoda in the Halloween scene, various toys from the 'Star Wars' series can be found in Elliot's room. George Lucas supported the theme and featured several E.T. figures in 'Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace' (1999).
• The alien's plant collection includes a triffid (from the film 'The Day of the Triffids' (1962)).
• In the Halloween celebration scene, a child encountered by E.T. who meets his gaze is dressed as Master Yoda from 'Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'. A snippet of John Williams’ ‘Yoda’s Theme’ plays during this moment.
• Harrison Ford played the role of the school principal, but Steven Spielberg cut the only scene featuring him, believing his presence would distract the audience.
• Steven Spielberg filmed in chronological order to get genuine reactions from the actors (primarily the children) in the scene of parting with E.T.
• One of the clips that E.T. watches on television is a segment from "This Island Earth" (1955), in which aliens send their equipment to Earth scientists.
• The shot of Elliott and the Alien flying on a bicycle against the backdrop of the moon became a trademark of "Amblin Entertainment".
• A curious fact, not widely known even among advertising historians: the film features a scene where Elliot lays a trail to his house for the alien guest using colorful chocolate 'pughovki' candies. The 'M & M's' company refused to provide their product, which 'melts in your mouth, not in your hand,' to the film, stating that the sight of the repulsive alien E.T. would deter children and adults from the sweets. However, 'Hershey's' won out, with their colorful 'Reese's Pieces' tablets becoming extraordinarily popular immediately after the film's premiere. Their sales increased by 65 percent. However, there was another 'loser' in the chocolate story – the 'Milk Duds' corporation turned down Spielberg on the grounds that the sight of the alien chewing colorful caramels was 'unappetizingly unpleasant'.
• One of the excerpts that E.T. watches on television is a segment from 'This Island Earth' (1955), in which aliens send their equipment to Earth scientists.