'ET' Alien Model Making Finger Greeting Sold for 3.3 Billion Won

"Engineering Masterpiece Equipped with Eighty-Five Mechanical Joints"

An alien animatronic model used in the filming of director Steven Spielberg's movie 'ET (1982)' was sold for $2.56 million (33.4 billion KRW). According to Julian's Auction on the 19th (local time), the auctioned prop is the 'original mechatronic' model representing the main alien character. It was created by Carlo Rambaldi (1925?2012), an Italian special effects master who won the Academy Award for Visual Effects in 1983. It realistically expressed various facial expressions, neck movements, and finger motions. Spielberg himself gave it the nickname "the eighth wonder of the film industry." Julian's Auction described it as "an engineering masterpiece with eighty-five mechanical joints."

The prop auction was sponsored by Turner Classic Movies, a film channel under Warner Bros. Discovery. Props from 'ET,' which celebrated its 40th anniversary, were extensively auctioned to find new owners. A scaled-down model of 'ET,' made when Spielberg approved the alien design, sold for $125,000 (160 million KRW), and a bicycle featured in the film sold for $115,200 (150 million KRW). Famous props from other films also sold for high prices. The staff used in the scene where Moses (played by Charlton Heston) parts the Red Sea in the movie 'The Ten Commandments (1956)' sold for $448,000 (580 million KRW), and a black wool dress worn by Marilyn Monroe sold for $256,000 (330 million KRW), respectively.

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