Reese’s Pieces, Flying Bicycles, and a Boy’s Life: Remembering “E.T.” on its 40th Anniversary

Saturday, 31 December 2022 14:29

Reese’s Pieces, Flying Bicycles, and a Boy’s Life: Remembering “E.T.” on its 40th Anniversary

by Michael Coate

A scene from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

THE 70MM SIX-TRACK DOLBY STEREO PRESENTATIONS

One of the exhibition trends in 1982 was for prestige and event films to be presented in 70mm Six-Track Dolby Stereo. Only eighteen films (out of 150+ total releases) that year had 70mm prints struck for selected theaters, and E.T. was among that coveted group.

Only thirty-four of the high-quality 70mm prints were struck for E.T. for exhibition in North America—29 for opening day plus three for a subsequent release wave and two more struck mid-run [plus more for key international markets]—and represented only about 3% of the film’s total initial print run. (By comparison, 1982’s largest North American 70mm print run was Quest for Fire with one-hundred twenty-five, and the smallest 70mm print run was Yes, Giorgio with two.)

The 70mm prints were several times more expensive than 35mm prints and more labor-intensive to manufacture (blown up, printed, mag-striped, sounded in real-time, individually QC’d).

The 70mm prints of E.T. featured pillarboxed imagery (at approximately 1.85:1) blown up from spherical 35mm and Six-Track Dolby Stereo (Baby Boom format with “A” type noise reduction). (Some theaters played back the audio on non-Dolby-brand equipment.) The 70mm prints of E.T. that screened in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco were blown-up directly from the original negative, with the majority of its 70mm prints contact-printed from a 65mm blow-up inter-negative.

Universal, during the initial weeks of E.T.’s release, circulated 70mm Six-Track Dolby coming-attraction trailers for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, The Dark Crystal and The Thing. (During that era, 35mm trailers typically featured monaural audio, and thus 70mm trailers were a unique experience.) Additional 70mm trailers became available over the course of the film’s lengthy release (Halloween III, The Sting II, etc.) During the film’s 1985 re-issue, Universal circulated 70mm trailers for Creator, Legend, Out of Africa and Weird Science. Other studios circulated 70mm trailers during this period, as well, and so, ultimately, any 70mm trailers screened during 70mm presentations of E.T. varied by venue and screening.

The 70mm presentations cited below commenced June 11th, 1982 (except where noted otherwise). The number of weeks the bookings played is included in parenthesis following each theater name; several of these set a new house record for duration and/or gross.

ET 6-track 70 mm

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Vancouver — Odeon’s Park (45)

CALIFORNIA

Costa Mesa — Edwards’ Town Center 4 (49)
Los Angeles — Pacific’s Cinerama Dome (5)
Oakland — Renaissance Rialto’s Grand Lake Twin (36)
Orange — Syufy’s City Center Twin (27)
Sacramento — Syufy’s Capitol Twin (39)
San Diego — Mann’s Loma (52)
San Francisco — Blumenfeld’s Regency II (5)
San Jose — Syufy’s Century 21 (1)
Westminster — UA’s Westminster Mall Twin (27)

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Washington — K-B’s Cinema (26)

HAWAII

Honolulu — Consolidated’s Waikiki Twin (27)

ILLINOIS

Calumet City — Plitt’s River Oaks 6 (27)
Chicago — GCC’s Ford City Triplex (27)
Orland Park — Plitt’s Orland Square 4 (28)
Schaumburg — Plitt’s Woodfield 4 (27)
Skokie — M&R’s Old Orchard Triplex (21)

LOUISIANA

Metairie — Cobb’s Lakeside 4 (52) [70mm from Week 28]

MINNESOTA

Minneapolis — Plitt’s Skyway 4 (23)

NEW YORK

New York — Loews’ New York Twin (27)
New York — Moss’ Movieland (52)
New York — Reade’s Bay (26)

ONTARIO

Toronto — Odeon’s Hyland Twin (44)

OREGON

Beaverton — LT’s Westgate Triplex (43)
Portland — LT’s Eastgate Triplex (43)

TEXAS

Dallas — GCC’s Northpark West Twin (27)
Houston — GCC’s Galleria 4 (32)

UTAH

Riverdale — Tullis-Hansen’s Cinedome Twin (1+)
Salt Lake City — Plitt’s Crossroads Triplex (48)
South Salt Lake — Syufy’s Century 5 (51)

L.A. Times newspaper ad

70MM MOVE-OVER, ADDITIONAL, RE-RELEASE AND RETRO BOOKINGS

1982-06-17 … San Jose, CA — Syufy’s Century 23 Twin m/o (2 [3])
1982-07-02 … San Jose, CA — Syufy’s Century 22 Triplex m/o (3 [6])
1982-07-16 … Los Angeles, CA — Pacific’s Hollywood Pacific Triplex m/o (27 [32])
1982-07-16 … Los Angeles, CA — Pacific’s Picwood (22)
1982-07-16 … Newport Beach, CA — Edwards’ Newport Twin (19)
1982-07-16 … Riverside, CA — Sanborn’s Canyon Crest 5 (39)
1982-07-16 … San Francisco, CA — Blumenfeld’s Regency I m/o (22 [27])
1982-07-16 … Seattle, WA — UA’s Cinema 150 (22)
1982-07-23 … San Jose, CA — Syufy’s Century 23 Twin m/o (43 [49])
1982-08-20 … Atlanta, GA — Columbia (17)
1982-10-22 … West St. Paul, MN — Engler’s Signal Hills 4 (1+)
1982-11-12 … Nashville, TN — Martin’s Belle Meade (5)
1982-12-17 … Colorado Springs, CO — Commonwealth’s Ute 70 (14)
1982-12-17 … Dallas, TX — Plitt’s Cinema Twin m/o (9 [38])
1982-12-17 … Philadelphia, PA — Budco’s Regency Twin (17) [70mm from Week 7]
1982-12-22 … Los Angeles, CA — Mann’s Valley West 6 (9)

1983-02-18 … Cedar Grove, NJ — Cinema 23 (3)
1983-02-18 … East Meadow, NY — UA’s Meadowbrook 4 (3)
1983-02-18 … Hicksville, NY — RKO Century’s Mid-Island Plaza Twin (3)
1983-02-18 … Nanuet, NY — UA’s Route 59 (3)
1983-02-18 … New York, NY — Loews’ New York Twin (3)
1983-02-18 … New York, NY — Reade’s Bay (2)
1983-02-18 … Secaucus, NJ — Loews’ Meadow 6 (3)
1983-02-18 … Wayne, NJ — Loews’ Wayne 6 (3)
1983-02-18 … White Plains, NY — UA’s Cinema (3)
1983-03-04 … Los Angeles, CA — UA’s Egyptian Triplex (3)
1983-03-25 … Chicago, IL — Plitt’s State Lake (1)
1983-03-25 … Evergreen Park, IL — M&R’s Evergreen Triplex (1)
1983-03-25 … Forest Park, IL — Essaness’ Forest Park Triplex (1)
1983-03-25 … Norridge, IL — M&R’s Norridge 4 (1)
1983-03-25 … Schaumburg, IL — Plitt’s Woodfield 4 (1)
1983-04-01 … Little Rock, AR — UA’s Heights (2)
1983-04-01 … Memphis, TN — Rand’s Park (2)
1983-04-08 … Oklahoma City, OK — Westwood (6)
1983-04-13 … Greenfield, WI — Capitol’s Spring Mall Triplex (1)
1983-04-15 … Toronto, ON — Famous Players’ Palace Triplex (3)
1983-05-06 … Tacoma, WA — Galaxy’s Temple (5) [w/ The Dark Crystal]
1983-05-20 … Cleveland, OH — Colony (1)
1983-05-20 … San Jose, CA — Syufy’s Century 21 m/o (3 [52])
1983-05-20 … Southfield, MI — SDT’s Northland Twin (2)
1983-05-27 … Huntsville, AL — United Amusement’s Madison Twin (2)
1983-06-03 … Atlanta, GA — Fox (6 days) [6th Annual Family Film Festival]

1985-07-19 … Los Angeles, CA — Mann’s Plaza (2)
1985-07-19 … Los Angeles, CA — Pacific’s Hollywood Pacific Triplex (4)
1985-07-19 … Montreal, QC — Cineplex Odeon’s Champlain Twin (5) [Version Francaise]
1985-07-19 … New York, NY — Loews’ Orpheum Twin (4)
1985-07-19 … New York, NY — Loews’ State Twin (3)
1985-07-19 … San Francisco, CA — Blumenfeld’s Royal (2)
1985-07-19 … San Jose, CA — Syufy’s Century 22 Triplex (3)
1985-07-19 … Toronto, ON — Famous Players’ Hyland Twin (5)
1985-07-19 … Washington, DC — Circle’s MacArthur Triplex (4)
1985-08-09 … San Jose, CA — Syufy’s Century 24 Twin m/o (1 [4])
1985-08-16 … Corte Madera, CA — Marin’s Cinema (1)
1985-08-23 … Los Angeles, CA — Four Star (1)
1985-08-30 … Mesa, AZ — Mann’s Superstition 5 (3) [w/ The Black Cauldron]
1985-09-27 … Wichita, KS — Dickinson’s Mall (1)
1985-10-13 … Sacramento, CA — Landmark’s Tower Triplex* (2 days)
1985-12-20 … Norfolk, VA — Naro (1)
1985-12-26 … Toronto, ON — Cinesphere* (11 days)

1986-02-22 … Cleveland, OH — CWRU’s Strosacker [CWRU Film Society series]
1986-06-06 … Los Angeles, CA — Pacific’s Hollywood Pacific Triplex (1) [w/ Back to the Future]

1987-06-30 … Universal City, CA — Cineplex Odeon’s Universal City 18** [THX]

1990-07-22 … Los Angeles, CA — Cineplex Odeon’s Fairfax Triplex***

2017-06-18 … Los Angeles, CA — American Cinematheque’s Egyptian*
2017-06-23 … Los Angeles, CA — American Cinematheque’s Egyptian*
2017-08-20 … Santa Monica, CA — American Cinematheque’s Aero*
2017-12-23 … Toronto, ON — TIFF Bell Lightbox*
2017-12-25 … Toronto, ON — TIFF Bell Lightbox*
2017-12-30 … Toronto, ON — TIFF Bell Lightbox*
2017-12-31 … Toronto, ON — TIFF Bell Lightbox*

2018-01-06 … Toronto, ON — TIFF Bell Lightbox*
2018-09-?? … Seattle, WA — Cinerama*

2019-08-03 … Los Angeles, CA — American Cinematheque’s Egyptian*
2019-09-28 … Seattle, WA — Cinerama*

2020-03-13 … New York, NY — Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn [canceled]

2021-06-19 … Santa Monica, CA — American Cinematheque’s Aero*

* Screened during a 70mm series/festival

** Screened during the Magnificent Movie Poll grand-opening event

*** Screened during the Classic Film Festival

International 70mm engagements of E.T. have not been included in this work.

Note that some of the presentations included in this listing may have been presented in 35mm during the latter week(s) of engagement due to contractual terms or print damage and the distributor’s unwillingness to supply a 70mm replacement print or because the booking was moved to a non-70mm-equipped auditorium within a multiplex. Any 35mm portion of the engagement is included in the duration figure.

Newspaper ad

If you liked what you just read, then we would like to point you to this column’s other Spielberg retrospectives, which include Duel 50th anniversary, Jaws 40th anniversary, Close Encounters of the Third Kind 40th anniversary, 1941 40th anniversary, 1941 35th anniversary, Raiders of the Lost Ark 40th anniversary, Raiders of the Lost Ark 35th anniversary, Poltergeist 35th anniversary, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 30th anniversary, Back to the Future 30th anniversary, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 25th anniversary, and Jurassic Park 25th anniversary.

IMAGES

Selected images copyright/courtesy Ron Dassa, Bobby Henderson, Los Angeles Times, National Screen Service, Ogden Standard-Examiner, Pacific Theatres, and Universal City Studios, Variety.

A scene from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

SOURCES/REFERENCES

The primary references for this project were the motion picture E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Universal, 1982), regional newspaper coverage, trade reports published in Boxoffice, The Hollywood Reporter, and Variety, and interviews conducted by the author. All figures and data pertain to North America (i.e. United States and Canada) except where stated otherwise.

A scene from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

SPECIAL THANKS

Mark A. Altman, Steven Awalt, David Ayers, Don Beelik, Neil S. Bulk, Lanham Bundy (Providence Public Library), Alexander Coates (Weber County Library), John Cork, Ron Dassa, Joe Fordham, Caseen Gaines, Gary Gerani, Thomas Hauerslev, Bobby Henderson, Brian Herzlinger, Bill Hunt, William Kallay, James Kendrick, Steve Lee, Paul Linfesty, Alison Martino, Mike Matessino, Joseph McBride, Bill Mead, Ross Melnick, Scott Mendelson, W.R. Miller, Ray Morton, M. David Mullen ASC, Saul Pincus, Scott Rogers, John Scoleri, John Sittig, David Strohmaier, Julie A. Turnock, April Wright.

A scene from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)