Never mind phoning home, now you can bring E.T. home if you have the bucks. The Extra Terrestrial Hero “#1” Mechatronic filming model “actor” that brought the eponymous character to life in Steven Spielberg’s 1982 classic comes up at Julien’s Icons and Idols sale in Hollywood on December 16 and 17. The estimate is $1 million – $2 million. Pre-dating modern CGI technology and effects, this one-of-a-kind cinematographic relic (constructed in 1981) features 85 points of movement and is regarded as an engineering masterpiece. It was created by “The Father of E.T.,” Carlo Rambaldi, an Italian special effects master, designer and mechatronics expert best known for his work on King Kong (Paramount Pictures, 1976), Alien (20th Century Fox, 1979), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Columbia Pictures, 1977), Dune (Universal Pictures/DDL Corp. 1984), and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
There are dresses worn by Marilyn Monroe, an original staff carried by Charlton Heston as Moses in the 1956 epic The Ten Commandments, an original Nimbus 2000 broom used by actor Daniel Radcliffe from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, two duelling light sabres from Star Wars, Daniel Crag’s bathing suit from Skyfall and wardrobe pieces from the lives and careers of Elizabeth Taylor, Doris Day, Barbra Streisand, Liza Minelli, Phyllis Diller, Jane Russell, Greta Garbo, Bette Midler and Olivia Newton-John.
