E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982Americanscience fiction movie produced and directed bySteven Spielberg, and written byMelissa Mathison. It follows analien, who is stranded on Earth. A boy and his family keep it hidden from the group of government agents, while bringing it home.
Filming took place from September to December 1981 on a budget of $10.5 million (equivalent to $25 million in 2019 dollars).
Released on June 11, 1982, byUniversal Pictures,E.T. was an immediateblockbuster, surpassingStar Wars to become thehighest grossing movie that anyone had made yet—a record it held for 11 years untilJurassic Park, another Spielberg movie, surpassed it.E.T. was widely acclaimed by critics and is considered to be one of the greatest movies of all time. It was re-released in 1985, and again in 2002, to celebrate its 20th anniversary, with altered shots and additional scenes.
The major voice work for E.T. wasPat Welsh, an elderly woman who lived inMarin County, California. Welsh smoked two packets of cigarettes a day, which gave her voice a quality that sound effects creatorBen Burtt liked. Burtt also recorded 16 other people and various animals to create E.T.'s "voice". These included Spielberg;Debra Winger; Burtt's sleeping wife, who had a cold; a burp from hisUSC movie professor; and raccoons, sea otters, and horses.[4][5]
Doctors working at theUSC Medical Center were recruited to play the doctors who try to save E.T. Spielberg felt that actors in the roles, performing lines of medical talking, would come across as unnatural.[6]
The movie was first shown at the closing gala of the1982 Cannes Film Festival.[7][8] It started in the United States on June 11, 1982. It opened at number one with a gross of $11 million. The movie was re-released in 1985 and 2002.
On September 17, 1982, the movie was shown at the United Nations, and Spielberg received the U.N. Peace Medal.[9]
