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 E.T. 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 E.T. also sold for $125 000, while one of the bikes used in the film's climatic getaway scene went for $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 $448,000 - and Daniel Radcliffe's Nimbus 2000 broomstick from the Harry Potter film series, which fetched $128 000.In times of uncertainty you need journalism you can trust. For 14 free days, you can have access to a world of in-depth analyses, investigative journalism, top opinions and a range of features.
_Business At this price I'd expect ET to phone home for free.