Day one: the school
The first two days of production, in September 1981, took place at a high school in Culver City. TCM names Culver City High School among the film’s locations.
A working school: see it from the street and stay off the grounds.
Elliott’s street is two streets, his forest is a stage and a redwood grove, and the bus stop was never a bus stop. Follow the trail, piece by piece.
Out of focus. The projector is warming up.
Where this comes from
Porter Ranch
Leave a trail.
One sweet at a time.
He would not come for a whistle. He came for sweets laid down a path. Drop them yourself, and each handful brings the next piece of the story.
0 of 24 sweets · the next piece at 6
6 sweets
Keep dropping.
12 sweets
Keep dropping.
18 sweets
Keep dropping.
24 sweets
Keep dropping.
A residential street: watch from the pavement and keep driveways clear.
Where this comes from
Northridge and Tujunga
Two houses.
One street.
Two neighbourhoods. Find the join.
The Northridge house first chosen was not close enough to the mountains, so a second house in Tujunga was used and edited to look part of the same neighbourhood.
Elliott’s house is 7121 Lonzo Street in Tujunga; much of the film takes place inside it. The house had only just been finished in 1980 when filming began in September 1981.
It turns up again in Charlie’s Angels (2000), where Drew Barrymore’s character finds two boys playing video games in the living room.
A family home. It is not on the map: please leave it be.
Where this comes from
Call sheet · Culver City
Fill the schedule.
See what is left.
The shoot was planned at 65 days. Add each block where it was filmed.
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- A high school in Culver City · 2 days
- Northridge and Tujunga · 11 days
- Three stages at Laird · 42 days
- The redwoods near Crescent City · 6 days
65 days planned, none filled.
Forty-two days: the stages
Filming ran for 42 days on three sound stages at Laird International Studios in Culver City. One stage held the bedrooms of Elliott, Gertie and their mother, Mary; the second the ground floor and backyard; the third the forest where the spaceship lands.
TCM says the bulk of the film was shot at Laird International Studios. Thomas Ince built the studio in 1918; the studio counts Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane and E.T. among the films made there.
A working lot: the Mansion faces Washington Boulevard. The studio lists contacts for productions, not tours.
Where this comes from
The Culver Hotel
The Culver Hotel
Culver City · 46 rooms and suites · afternoon tea Sat–Sun 1–4pm
A 1924 landmark hotel at 9400 Culver Boulevard, a short walk from The Culver Studios, where the stages were. 46 rooms and suites, a bar and restaurant, and jazz nights in the lobby.
Check roomsPorter Ranch to Granada Hills
Pedal.
Faster than the vans.
On Killimore Avenue.
Where it starts
The bicycle chase begins on Killimore Avenue, crosses Beaufait and Eddleston Drive and runs through Aliso Canyon Park.
Where this comes from
Where it leaves the ground
The last stretch of the chase runs along White Oak Avenue and Tulsa Street. The stretch of White Oak lined with 114 deodar cedars was declared a Historic-Cultural Monument in 1966.
After nightfall, E.T. lifts the bike into the air and they ride through the sky. The Valley Relics Museum counts the shot of Elliott crossing the moon among the most copied, and most parodied, in film.
A busy public avenue: see the cedars from the pavement and cross at the lights.
Where this comes from
Viator · Ad / affiliate
Los Angeles film-location tours
Los Angeles
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Fort Dick and Stage Three
Phone home.
From one forest to the other.
Switch on all three parts.
One stage held the bedrooms of Elliott, Gertie and their mother, Mary; the second the ground floor and backyard; the third the forest where the spaceship lands.
Where this comes from
The final six days of the shoot went on forest sequences near Crescent City. The opening forest scenes were filmed in Crescent City’s redwoods, and E.T. phones home from Fort Dick.
The National Park Service notes that E.T. was filmed in Del Norte County.
No single grove is named as the set: start at the park information centre in Crescent City. The parks are open all year.
Where this comes from
National Park Service
Redwood National and State Parks
Crescent City · Open year-round
The redwoods near Crescent City, where the forest scenes were finished. The parks are open year-round.
Hours and seasonsWilshire Boulevard and Orlando
He never really left.
One of three
A full-body animatronic, one of only three Carlo Rambaldi made for the film, went on show behind glass when the museum opened in 2021. It came from Steven Spielberg’s own collection.
Displays change: check what is on show on the museum’s site before you go for E.T.
Where this comes from
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
The Academy Museum
Los Angeles
The museum on Wilshire Boulevard put one of the three full-body animatronics on show when it opened in 2021. Displays change, so check before you go.
Plan a visit
A flying bike
You board a flying bike for a gentle ride through the sky, dodging the bad guys on the way to E.T.’s home world. The ride is in the Hollywood area of Universal Studios Florida, and Express Pass is available.
Inside the theme park, so it needs a park ticket. Minimum height 34 in (87 cm); under 48 in rides with a companion.
Where this comes from
Universal Orlando Resort
E.T. Adventure
Orlando · Park ticket · minimum height 34 in
Board a flying bike for a gentle ride through the sky, in the Hollywood area of Universal Studios Florida.
See the rideLeave the light on.
Here is where it all is now.
Where it is now
7 places you can visit, from the Valley to the redwoods. Elliott’s house on Lonzo Street in Tujunga is a family home: it is named, not mapped.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A residential street: watch from the pavement and keep driveways clear.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A busy public avenue: see the cedars from the pavement and cross at the lights.
Porter Ranch under the Santa Susana foothills, 2014. Clotee Pridgen Alloc… (Panoramio) · CC BY-SA 3.0 Killimore Avenue, Porter Ranch, Los Angeles
Killimore Avenue, Porter Ranch
The bicycle chase begins on Killimore Avenue, crosses Beaufait and Eddleston Drive and runs through Aliso Canyon Park.
A residential street: watch from the pavement and keep driveways clear.
Where this comes from
The deodar cedars along White Oak Avenue, Granada Hills, 2014. Junkyardsparkle · CC0 White Oak Avenue and Tulsa Street, Granada Hills
White Oak Avenue at Tulsa Street
The last stretch of the chase runs along White Oak Avenue and Tulsa Street.
A busy public avenue: see the cedars from the pavement and cross at the lights.
Where this comes from
Stay
A room near the stages.
The 1924 Culver Hotel, a short walk from the studio where the bedrooms, the backyard and the forest were built.
The Culver Hotel
The Culver Hotel
Culver City · 46 rooms and suites · afternoon tea Sat–Sun 1–4pm
A 1924 landmark hotel at 9400 Culver Boulevard, a short walk from The Culver Studios, where the stages were. 46 rooms and suites, a bar and restaurant, and jazz nights in the lobby.
Check roomsGo there
The forest, the museum, the flying bike.
The redwoods at Crescent City, the Academy Museum, E.T. Adventure in Orlando, and Los Angeles location tours.
Universal Orlando Resort
E.T. Adventure
Orlando · Park ticket · minimum height 34 in
Board a flying bike for a gentle ride through the sky, in the Hollywood area of Universal Studios Florida.
See the rideAcademy Museum of Motion Pictures
The Academy Museum
Los Angeles
The museum on Wilshire Boulevard put one of the three full-body animatronics on show when it opened in 2021. Displays change, so check before you go.
Plan a visitNational Park Service
Redwood National and State Parks
Crescent City · Open year-round
The redwoods near Crescent City, where the forest scenes were finished. The parks are open year-round.
Hours and seasonsViator · Ad / affiliate
Los Angeles film-location tours
Los Angeles
Live marketplace results for Los Angeles movie-location tours. None is an E.T. tour as such: check each itinerary.
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The score, played live.
E.T. in Concert, with an orchestra under the screen.
Checking current event dates…
Take it home
Posters, the novel, the score.
Two original posters from our store, Kotzwinkle’s novel, McBride’s Spielberg biography and John Williams’s 1982 LP.
Printed Originals · Our poster store
E.T. The Extra Terrestrial — US one-sheet (1982)
An original 1982 US one-sheet, 27 x 41 in, art by John Alvin; mint, rolled.
In stock
View poster
Printed Originals · Our poster store
E.T. The Extra Terrestrial — Czech (1985)
An original 1985 Czech A3 poster, 28 x 40 cm, art by Zdeněk Ziegler; mint, rolled.
In stock
View poster
Bookshop.org UK · Ad / affiliate
E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial in His Adventures on Earth
William Kotzwinkle
William Kotzwinkle’s 1982 novel of the film.
Find the book
Bookshop.org UK · Ad / affiliate
Steven Spielberg: A Biography
Joseph McBride
Joseph McBride’s biography of the director.
Find the book
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eBay · Ad / affiliate
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
John Williams · LP, MCA Records, 1982
John Williams’s score, which won the Oscar, on the 1982 US LP.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
The light’s still on.
Where this comes from
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
8 of 8 places · 16 of 16 Moments
Elliott’s house
7121 Lonzo Street, Tujunga
Hidden in his room
E.T. is hidden in Elliott’s room.
Two houses, one street
A second house in Tujunga is edited in to look part of the Northridge neighbourhood.
Killimore Avenue, Porter Ranch
Killimore Avenue, Porter Ranch, Los Angeles
The trail of sweets
Elliott rides into the park, dropping a trail of Reese’s Pieces behind him.
The brand that said no
Universal approaches Hershey’s in October 1981, after Mars declines to put M&M’s in the film.
Sales
Reese’s Pieces sales reportedly triple within the first two weeks of release; TCM puts the rise at 65%.
The bus stop
The children wait at a school bus stop built only for the film.
The chase
The bicycle chase sets off down Killimore Avenue and through Aliso Canyon Park.
White Oak Avenue at Tulsa Street
White Oak Avenue and Tulsa Street, Granada Hills
Into the sky
The chase ends along White Oak Avenue and Tulsa Street.
Across the moon
After nightfall, E.T. lifts the bike into the air and Elliott rides across the sky.
Culver City High School
4401 Elenda Street, Culver City
The first two days
Filming begins at a high school in Culver City.
The Culver Studios
9336 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City
Three stages
Forty-two days on three stages: the bedrooms, the ground floor and backyard, and the forest landing.
Four days early
Production wraps in December 1981, four days ahead of its 65-day schedule.
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
6067 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles
One of three
One of the three full-body animatronics goes on show, from Spielberg’s collection.
The redwoods at Crescent City
Redwood National and State Parks; information centre at 1111 Second Street, Crescent City
The opening forest
The opening forest scenes are filmed in Crescent City’s redwoods.
Phoning home
E.T. phones home from Fort Dick.
E.T. Adventure, Universal Studios Florida
Hollywood, Universal Studios Florida, Orlando
The flying bike
Riders board a flying bike for a ride through the sky.