The Bearded Trio

"I've seen enough, you're fantastic!" - Steven Spielberg One of the great stories from E.T. the Extra‑Terrestrial is how a young C. Thomas Howell ended up playing Tyler, one of the boys in Michael's friend group. According to Howell, the role originally belonged to “a Mormon kid” but when the parents discovered the character had to smoke a cigarette on screen, they pulled him from the production. Suddenly, the door opened for Howell who wasn’t a smoker at all to step into a Spielberg film no less. “I learned to smoke cigarettes on the ride to the audition.” said Howell. In one retelling, Howell says that when he arrived at Steven Spielberg’s office, the director asked him straight out whether he could smoke. Howell, determined to prove he could handle the scene, pulled out a pack of Marlboros and put one between his lips. Before he could even strike a match, Spielberg stopped him. “I’ve seen enough, you’re fantastic.” The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spie...

Steven Spielberg's First Experience With D&D Ends Quickly It is known that Steven Spielberg likes to get to know his cast members when directing a movie, and that was no exception when filming E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.  When the cast were in Northern California he made the extra effort to get to know the kids. During the filming of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Steven Spielberg turned up unannounced to play Dungeons & Dragons with Robert MacNaughton and Henry Thomas while they were staying at a motel.  Steven had never played the game before so MacNaughton created a new character for the director.   Steven Spielberg's first experience with D&D was a bad roll. Robert MacNaughton recalls: "He rolled the dice and of course it's all random, but the very first thing that happens - he comes across a giant snail and gets killed.  He rolled a one, which is basically death.  Henry and I still laugh about that to this day because I started freaking out be...

Here's a TV commercial from 2002 for Toys "Я" Us celebrating 20 years of E.T. The Extra Terrestrial.  In the commercial we see our friend E.T. getting confused over the giraffe's name.  It's Geoffrey by the way. The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

"...And this is Lando Calrissian and this is Boba Fett...And look, they can even have wars."  - Elliott showing his Star Wars figures to E.T. My second recommendation for a piece of John Williams music to wind down to, I have chosen "E.T. and Me" from the original release of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, track number three. This serene piece has the relaxing harp as the primary focus for the first part and has a dream-like, almost mystical feel to the piece that portrays love and trust between friends.  At 2'04, the harp is accompanied by the full orchestra to change the tone and bring home the feeling of friendship and a sibling love theme.  I have an affection for this piece of music from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.  The scene shows Elliott showing his new friend his toys such as his Star Wars figures and placing a toy shark in a fish bowl to show the basics of the food chain, "fish eat the fish food, the shark eats the fish and nobody eats the shark....

35 random facts on the 1982 classic,  E.T. The Extra Terrestrial  which was directed by Steven Spielberg.   1  - The original idea for the. E.T. movie was Night Skies, a semi-sequel to Close Encounters of the Third Kind and had a whole darker story.  The aliens were set to terrorise  the people of Earth.  The evil aliens would communicate with various animals including chickens and cows to see who was sentient. 2  - $700,000 was spent on the animatronics effects for Night Skies by horror effects wizard, Rick Baker. 3  - The movie was changed to the more tranquil story we know today after Spielberg decided he wanted a change of pace after filming Raiders of the Lost ark which had explosions and evil Nazis. 4  - The working title for E.T. The Extra Terrestrial was "A Boys Life."  The working title is the name of the movie being shown at the cinema in Gremlins. 5  - The movie held the record for highest gros...

Tasting of  "peanut butter and chocolate-flavored crispy, sweetened 2-grain cereal". The cereal pieces came in the shapes of the capital letters "E" and "T" to spell everyone's favourite alien. It was said the reason for the flavour was to emulate Reese's Pieces sweets which of course was used in the 1982 Steven Spielberg directed movie.  Here's some more photos along with a retro TV commercial.

Evil E.T's In E.T.-X Fan-made Trailer This is a fan-made trailer from a few years ago where we see the aliens from E.T. The Extra Terrestrial returning to Earth but this time they are evil.  This is not a million miles away from the originally planned sequel to the 1982 classic where Steven Spielberg had intentions of the aliens being evil.  The sequel had a working title of "Nocturnal Fears" and you can read some of the script here. This fan-made trailer that offers a different interpretation to Nocturnal Fears, "ET-X" splices footage of Drew Barrymore and Henry Thomas in different films with some rather clever CGI of an older, wiser-looking ET, who is back to save the earth from evil aliens. Cameos from the Jonas Brothers, Morgan Freeman and David Morse.

A few weeks back we reported that there were various original iconic movie posters going under the hammer and yesterday the auction took place.  So, how much exactly do original movie posters associated with The Bearded Trio actually go for?  Lets take a look: STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE (1977) - Richard Edlund Collection: Special One-Sheet Style Poster, 1976 sold for £5,000 ($6,124)  The estimate was £1k - £2k (approx. $1308 - $2617) E.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL (1982) - Richard Edlund Collection: US One-Sheet Poster, 1982 sold for £1,750 ($2,164)  The estimate was £800 - 1,200 (approx. $1,047 - $1570) STAR WARS ORIGINAL TRILOGY (1977-83) - Mondo Poster, 2013 sold for £1,750 ($2,134) - Over seven times the original estimate! More posters related to The Bearded Trio that sold: Lot #34 - BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985) - US One-Sheet Poster, 1985.  Sold for £562.50 Lot #46 - GOONIES (1985) - US One-Sheet Poster, 1985. Sold for £437.50 Lot #50 - RA...

The E.T. Sequel Story Treatment E.T. II Nocturnal Fears was written by Steven Spielberg and E.T. writer Melissa Mathison.  The sequel that never was, was going to, more or less pick up straight away from the end of the first movie and with one distinct feature.  The aliens are evil.  From the story treatment we learn: "The aliens on-board are EVIL. They have landed on Earth in response to distress signals designating its present coordinates. These aliens are searching for a stranded extraterrestrial named Zrek (E.T.), who is sending a call for 'Help.' The evil creatures are carnivorous. Their leader, Korel, commands his crew to disperse into the forest to acquire food. As the squat aliens leave the gangplank, each one emits a hypnotic hum which has a paralyzing effect on the surrounding wildlife. These creatures are an albino fraction (mutation) of the same civilization E.T. belongs to. The two separate groups have been at war for decades!" Now you can read the s...

Posters From Howard Kazanjian and Richard Edlund's Personal Archive To Go To Auction Film Producer, HOWARD KAZANJIAN and SFX Cinematographer RICHARD EDLUND are responsible for some of the most famous and best-loved blockbuster movies ever made, including Indiana Jones’ Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Star Wars (1977-1983), and many more. A selection of posters from their personal archives will be amongst 341 lots going under the hammer on Thursday 23rd April 2020. E.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL (1982) - Richard Edlund Collection:  US One-Sheet Poster, 1982. £800-1.2k ($935-1,405) Lots from the Richard Edlund Collection include a US One-Sheet Poster from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) featuring the iconic "bike over the moon" imagery. These posters were personally distributed by legendary director Steven Spielberg; to friends, key members of the production staff and close associates. This full-size 27" x 41" poster ...

**ICONIC & ORIGINAL CINEMA POSTERS AND ARTWORK WORTH OVER £200,000 TO BE AUCTIONED IN THE UK** PROP STORE WILL BE AUCTIONING OVER 340 ORIGINAL CINEMA POSTERS ON THURSDAY 26th MARCH 2020 AUCTION HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: - COLLECTIONS FROM STAR WARS PRODUCER, HOWARD KAZANJIAN AND OSCAR-WINNING SPECIAL EFFECTS CINEMATOGRAPHER, RICHARD EDLUND - POSTERS AND ORGINAL ARTWORK FROM RENOWNED BRITISH COMICS ARTIST, JOCK - AN EXTENSIVE COLLECTION OF MONDO AND SCI-FI POSTERS, INCLUDING A UK QUAD POSTER FROM THE 1951 SCI-FI CLASSIC THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, ESTIMATED TO SELL BETWEEN £11,000 - 13,000 - EXCEEDINGLY RARE E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982) “OVER THE MOON” POSTER Prop Store  – one of the world’s leading film and TV entertainment memorabilia companies has today announced it is to hold its fifth cinema poster live auction this March, with the posters and artwork on offer expected to fetch in excess  of £200,000 ($261,750) . The auction is to be held at Prop S...