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
Released by Universal Pictures in the summer of 1982, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial became a defining work of Steven Spielberg's career and one of the highest grossing films of its decade. Its story of a stranded alien befriended by a suburban boy resonated across generations, blending wonder and tenderness in a way few blockbusters attempted. The film's success cemented Spielberg's reputation for family-driven science fiction and helped shape the era's cinematic imagination, leaving behind an enduring cultural footprint that still draws admiration from collectors and casual audiences alike.
This piece marks the opening credits sequence, the frame that introduces audiences to the film's name before the story begins. Such cells are prized for representing the very first visual handshake between studio and viewer, a moment of anticipation rather than narrative action. With Elliott, Elliott Taylor, and E.T. named among the figures tied to this cell, it stands as a marker of the partnership at the heart of the film, the human boy and the visitor whose bond became cinematic legend. Collectors value these pieces for their symbolic role in film history.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Gauge
35mm; the strip holds three frames, each with four perforations visible on the upper edge and four on the lower edge.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched holes have clean, rounded corners throughout the strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical soundtrack track is visible running along the lower edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual-band variable-area format.
Edge print
Text reading 'E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL' is printed vertically in the inter-frame area between each frame; no key numbers or SAFETY FILM legend are legible in this capture.
Base & colour
The clear base shows a slight cool-neutral tint; the dye image reads as a rich, saturated colour positive with no visible red shift or fading.
Projection history
Several fine horizontal and diagonal green-tinted scratches are visible across all three frames, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be the same title-card composition, consistent with a title or logo sequence from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Era check
The dual variable-area optical track, colour positive stock, and frame-title printing style are all consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 1980s era of the film on record.
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 000062751
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
