If you were alive in the summer of 1982, you probably remember the lines. They weren't just long; they were blocks-long, sweltering, and filled with people who had already seen the movie three times. But if you look back at the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial release date, there is a lot more to the story than just a Friday in June. It wasn't just a movie launch. It was a cultural tectonic shift that almost didn't happen the way we remember it.
The Day the World Met E.T.
The official E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial release date in the United States was June 11, 1982.
Universal Pictures put it into 1,103 theaters. That sounds like a lot, but by today's standards, it's a "limited" opening for a blockbuster. Back then, though, it was massive. The film pulled in about $11.8 million in its first weekend. Most people think it just stayed at number one forever. Honestly, it kind of did. It held the top spot for six straight weeks. Then it bounced around, hitting number one again in December—six months after it first came out!
But the very first time the world saw the finished film wasn't in a suburban mall in Ohio. It was actually at the Cannes Film Festival on May 26, 1982. It played as the closing gala. Legend has it the audience gave it a standing ovation that lasted nearly 15 minutes. Steven Spielberg was only 35 years old. He had already given the world Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark, but E.T. was different. It was personal.
Why the June Date Was a Gamble
You’ve got to understand the "Summer of Sci-Fi" in 1982. It was crowded. Ridiculously crowded.
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan came out a week before E.T.
- Poltergeist (which Spielberg also produced) was already in theaters.
- Blade Runner and The Thing were both coming out just two withs later on June 25.
Basically, industry experts thought E.T. might get buried by the "tougher" sci-fi movies. John Carpenter’s The Thing featured a terrifying, shape-shifting alien. Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner was a dark, gritty noir. Against those, a puppet with a glowing finger and a love for Reese's Pieces looked... well, soft.
But the "soft" movie ate everyone's lunch. The Thing and Blade Runner actually struggled at the box office because audiences were so obsessed with the heart-wrenching friendship between Elliott and his visitor.
It Wasn't Always Called E.T.
Before that June 11 date was set in stone, the project looked very different. Spielberg was originally developing a much darker film called Night Skies. It was basically a horror movie about a family trapped in their farmhouse by aggressive aliens. One of those aliens was "friendly," and that's the thread Spielberg pulled on.
He realized he didn't want to make people jump; he wanted to make them cry. He teamed up with screenwriter Melissa Mathison (who was dating Harrison Ford at the time) and they hammered out the script under the working title A Boy's Life. They used that fake title on set to keep the plot a secret. Production was so under wraps that even the actors had to keep things quiet.
Henry Thomas, who played Elliott, famously got the job by improvising a scene where he had to protect his alien friend from the government. He cried so hard during the audition that Spielberg reportedly told him on the spot, "Okay, kid, you got the job."
The 1985 and 2002 Re-Releases
Most fans don't just remember 1982. They remember the re-releases. Because there was no VHS for years (Universal was terrified of piracy), the only way to see E.T. was to wait for it to come back to theaters.
The July 19, 1985 re-release was a massive event. It raked in another $40 million. Then, for the 20th anniversary in March 2002, Spielberg did something he now says he regrets. He digitally "fixed" the movie. He replaced the guns held by federal agents with walkie-talkies using CGI. He also touched up the E.T. puppet with digital effects.
Years later, Spielberg admitted he was wrong to do it. He told an audience at the Berlin Film Festival that he shouldn't have messed with the archives of his own work. He basically said that a movie is a signpost of its era and should stay that way. If you buy the movie today, you'll notice the guns are back.
Behind the Magic: Real Numbers and Real People
The budget for E.T. was surprisingly small—roughly $10.5 million.
Compare that to the $792.9 million it eventually earned worldwide. It stayed the highest-grossing film of all time for eleven years. It took Jurassic Park (another Spielberg flick) to finally knock it off its throne in 1993.
The creature itself was a masterpiece of 1980s tech. Designed by Carlo Rambaldi, the puppet cost about $1.5 million. It had 85 points of movement. There were actually three different puppets, plus two little people and a 12-year-old boy born without legs who wore the costume for certain walking scenes.
What You Can Do Now
If you're looking to revisit the magic or share it with someone who hasn't seen it, don't just stream it on a tiny phone screen. Here is how to actually appreciate the legacy of that 1982 release:
- Watch the Original Cut: Make sure you are watching the theatrical version, not the 2002 "Special Edition." The practical effects have a warmth that CGI just can't mimic.
- Listen to the Score Alone: John Williams won an Oscar for this. The final chase sequence music was actually conducted by Williams while watching the raw footage, and Spielberg liked the music so much he re-edited the film to match the music's tempo.
- Check the Credits for Famous Faces: Look for a very young Erika Eleniak (the girl Elliott kisses in school) and listen for Debra Winger’s voice—she provided some of the temp tracks for E.T.'s voice before Pat Welsh took over.
The E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial release date wasn't just a day on a calendar. It was the moment movies moved away from the cynical "grim-dark" era of the 70s and back toward a sense of wonder. It’s why, four decades later, we still look at the moon and expect to see a bicycle flying across it.
