E.T.'s 33th birthday (in 33 pictures)

With all the newscoverage on Jurassic World, the film that will undoubtably dominate the world-wide box-office this weekend, it's easy to forget that 33 years ago Steven Spielberg delivered another global smash in the US: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.

In an era without cellular phones, internet, DVD, PC's or iPhones, E.T. took the world by total surpise. The film had screened a few weeks before at the closing night of the Cannes Film Festival and received a standing ovation.

Kathleen Kennedy, Steven and Melissa Matheson 

at the closing night of the Cannes Festival in 1982

Steven,Kathleen Carey and Melissa Matheson 

at the Cannes Filmfestival in 1982

On june 11, 1982 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial opened in the United States to great reviews and incredible box-office results. 

The film dominated the charts for weeks to come, before it opened in the rest of the world. Because in some countries the film didn't open for months (in most of Europe it was programmed around christmas), E.T. was a huge hit on the illegal videomarkets everywhere.

Spielberg and Carlo Rambaldi checking E.T.

In celebration of it's 33th birthday, here are a couple of behind the scenes pictures...

E.T. before it was called E.T.

E.T.'s designer: Carlo Rambaldi

Steven scratching an alien back

Carlo Rambaldi

Richard Edlund

One of the original E.T.-animatronics

Spielberg filming the famous Halloween sequence

Although a sequel to E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial was never produced, E.T. did make a comeback, (well sort of) some time later.

Together with a few comrades E.T. can be seen in Star Wars Episode I, thus showing that E.T. could be a Jedi after all.

Happy 33th birthday E.T.

Ronny.

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