A model of the title character used in filming Steven Spielberg’s 1982 classic “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” has fetched an out-of-this-world price at auction.
The mechatronic figure sold for $2.56 million to an undisclosed bidder this past weekend, according to Julien’s Auctions. It was the star attraction in an “Icons & Idols: Hollywood” auction presented by Julien’s and Turner Classic Movies Saturday and Sunday online and in Beverly Hills.
The model, made of an aluminum alloy, “features 85 points of movement and is regarded as an engineering masterpiece,” according to Julien’s. It was created for the film by Oscar-winning special effects wizard Carlo Rambaldi, who also designed pieces for the genre films “Alien,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and the 1976 version of “King Kong.”
The model and other “E.T.” artifacts can be seen until January at Cineteca Milano - Museo Interattivo del Cinema in Milan, Italy, as part of a an exhibit celebrating the film’s 40th anniversary.
More recent film props that sold in the auction include one of Harry Potter’s brooms, commanding $128,000, and, at $115,200, the hammer Mjolnir used by Chris Hemsworth in “Thor: The Dark World.”
The auction also included items from an earlier era, before the collapse of the Hollywood studio system.
A staff Charlton Heston used while portraying Moses in Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 “The Ten Commandments” sold for $448,000. The winning bids for a black wool dress and a cotton sleeveless sundress worn by Marilyn Monroe were $256,000 each.
Those prices fall short of bids in recent years for other iconic film relics, according to Forbes: $3 million paid in 2014 for a Cowardly Lion costume from “The Wizard of Oz” and $6.4 million in 2019 for the Aston Martin DB5 used in the 1965 James Bond film “Thunderball.”
