It’s the 40th anniversary of E.T., and we at John Alvin Art want to celebrate the ET anniversary by amplifying the wonderful work of John Alvin in creating his iconic movie poster for the film. John always thought of his calling as a movie campaign artist as an attempt to create “the promise of a great experience”. With a poster that, based on the project’s brief, was not to show more than a glimpse of a small part of the alien, he was able to make movie lovers curious enough to buy tickets, create buzz, and get excited about the film before the theater lights even dimmed.
No doubt some of you know that the key art for E.T. went at auction for $400,000 in 2016 before the latest dramatic uptick in value for film illustration art. Who can imagine what it would be worth today?! To John Alvin fans and to us who loved him both personally and as an artist, his E.T., like all his work, will always be priceless.
Our friends at ArtInsights wrote a blog all about the E.T. anniversary, including information and exclusive insights and quotes from Andrea Alvin, John’s wife and partner in Alvin & Associates. You can find the blog by clicking HERE.
*The E.T. movie poster won the Saturn Award in 1982. Did you know in an AFI poll, the film was voted the 24th greatest film of all time? In addition to being listed among the top ten movies in the BFI list of 50 films you should see by the age of 14, it was selected for preservation by the U.S. National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. In September of 1982, E.T. was screened at the United Nations, and Spielberg was honored with a UN Peace Medal.
This August the film will be shown for the first time in IMAX theaters around the country.