LOS ANGELES: The original animatronic model used to bring big-eyed alien ET to life in Steven Spielberg's classic sci-fi film sold this weekend for a whopping USD 2.6 million, according to auction organizers.
The item was sold as part of a two-day mega-sale put on by Julien's Auctions and Turner Classic Movies that included over 1,300 props ranging from Robert DeNiro's Raging Bull boxing gloves to Chris Hemsworth's Thor hammer.
But the highest ticket item was the extra-friendly extra-terrestrial, whose glowing finger and childlike innocence melted hearts in 1982, before the age of ubiquitous computer-generated imagery.
With 85 mechanical joints, nearly everything moves on the ET model, from the eyes to the neck, and of course that pointy finger that was held aloft as the alien informed his new friend Elliott that he wanted to "phone home."
A maquette of ET also sold for USD 125,000, while one of the bikes used in the film's climatic getaway scene went for USD 115,000.
Other movie memorabilia sold at the Beverly Hills auction included the staff that Charlton Heston used to part the Red Sea in "The Ten Commandments" -- which went for USD 448,000 -- and Daniel Radcliffe's Nimbus 2000 broomstick from the Harry Potter film series, which fetched USD 128,000.