E.T. model on auction block in New York, could fetch $1.2 million
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The E.T. model was able to perform 150 different movements, such as frowning or stretching his neck.
PHOTOS: UIP, SOTHEBY'S
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NEW YORK – An original animatronic model of the iconic alien created for Steven Spielberg’s classic 1982 film E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is for sale at Sotheby’s – and is estimated to fetch as much as US$900,000 (S$1.2 million).
Created by Oscar-winning special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi, the model is one of three used in the film and is specifically the one featured in the famed “closet scene” when E.T. is hiding among loads of stuffed animals.
The model – which stands at three feet or about 90cm tall, according to Sotheby’s listing – is from the personal collection of Rambaldi, an Italian animatronics pioneer who died at the age of 86 in 2012.
The starting bid is US$500,000 in the online sale, which closes on April 3. The estimated price is from US$600,000 to US$900,000.
“This model embodies the artistry of an era before computer-generated imagery (CGI) took hold, a nostalgic and iconic piece of Hollywood history as captivating as the stories themselves,” said Ms Cassandra Hatton, a Sotheby’s vice-president.
The E.T. model was able to perform 150 different movements, such as frowning or stretching his neck. The film, about a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial stranded on Earth, starred then-child stars Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore.
Rambaldi collaborated on other blockbuster sci-fi films, including Spielberg’s Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977), Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979) and John Guillermin’s King Kong (1976). For both Alien and E.T., he won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects.
The auction includes other objects from his collection, including two of the model sandworms used in David Lynch’s Dune (1984). AFP
