National Film RegistryLibrary of Congress · Inducted 1994
“Written by Melissa Mathison and directed by Steven Spielberg, this film chronicles the relationship between a young boy (Henry Thomas) and a benevolent alien who is stranded on Earth and trying to find his way back to his home planet. The film's masterful blending of hopeful innocence with excitement and humor made it both a critical and popular success.”
Universal Pictures · Amblin Entertainment · 115 min
Box office
$792.9M worldwide on a $10.5M budget
Honors
Academy Awards — 4 wins, 9 nominationsGolden Globe Awards — 2 wins, 4 nominationsLos Angeles Film Critics Association — 2 winsBritish Academy Film Awards — 1 win, 8 nominationsAll 20 wins · 27 nominations on record
Academy Awards: Best Visual Effects
Academy Awards: Best Original Score
Academy Awards: Best Sound Editing
Academy Awards: Best Sound
Golden Globe Awards: Best Motion Picture – Drama
Golden Globe Awards: Best Original Score
Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Film
Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Director
British Academy Film Awards: Best Original Music
Japan Academy Film Prize: Outstanding Foreign Language Film
David di Donatello: Best Foreign Director
National Board of Review: National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
Saturn Award: Best Special Effects
Saturn Award: Best Writing
Saturn Award: Best Science Fiction Film
Saturn Award: Best Music
Saturn Award: Best Classic Film DVD Release
National Society of Film Critics Award: Best Director
Boston Society of Film Critics Award: Best Director
Grammy Award: Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
Scholarship
Named in the title of 28 peer-reviewed works
Examples
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial — 100 Science Fiction Films, 2013
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial — A K Peters/CRC Press eBooks, 2010
E.T. the extra-terrestrial — Open Research Exeter (University of Exeter), 1982
Sources: Wikidata · Library of Congress · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Universal Pictures released E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in the summer of 1982, and it became a defining event for the studio and for Steven Spielberg, who turned a small, personal story into one of the era's most beloved blockbusters. Its blend of childhood wonder, suburban Americana, and genuine emotional stakes helped redefine what a family film could achieve commercially and artistically, and it held the box office record for over a decade. The picture's cultural reach extended well beyond theaters, shaping merchandising, home video collecting, and the broader science-fiction genre for years afterward.
This cell preserves a frame from E.T. and Elliott Flying, one of the most iconic sequences in the film, pairing Elliott (Henry Thomas) with E.T. (Pat Welsh) at the emotional and visual center of the story, with Michael (Robert MacNaughton) present as well. Collectors seek this moment because it distills the friendship between boy and alien into the film's signature image, the one most associated with its poster art and lasting identity. As a piece of 35mm history, it represents a physical artifact from the actual production, a tangible link to a scene audiences immediately recognize and treasure.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby optical release print of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges look clean throughout the visible strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the perforations, appearing as a dual-band variable-area format; an additional dense noise-reduction encoded region is visible above it, consistent with a Dolby encoded optical track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The base shows a warm amber-orange cast across all three frames; dye image appears fully saturated with no visible fading.
Projection history
Light horizontal lines are visible across the frame area, consistent with projection wear on a release print.
Picture
Positive image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, and the subject matter is consistent with the film on record.
Era check
The dual variable-area optical soundtrack with apparent Dolby noise-reduction encoding and the warm-base Eastmancolor-type stock are consistent with a 1982 theatrical release print.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000062716
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
