Harry Potter wands sell for a whopping $232K combined – as E.T. animatronic head sells for staggering $635K in auction

Iconic pieces of Hollywood history went up for auction over the past four days.

Four wands used in the Harry Potter film franchise were among the classic movie props sold during the Robots, Wizards, Heroes & Aliens: Contemporary Hollywood Auction that was part of the  four-day Hollywood Legends event through Julian’s Auctions.

In the end the four wands far exceeded original estimates set before the auction, as they raked in a combined $232,000.

Topping the four, which may come as a surprise to some movie buffs, was the one Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) used in Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, selling for $76,200. It had been estimated to sell for $5,000-$7,000.

The winning bid for the Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) wand in Harry Potter And The Order Of Phoenix was $69,850, after pre-auction predicted it would go for $8,000-$10,000.

The Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) prop was appraised to be between $10,000 and $20,000 but sold for $57, 150, while the Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) wand used in Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban went for $28,575 after being estimated to sell for $6,000-$8,000.

All told, those four pieces of movie history came to just shy of $232,000, while the original estimates put the price tag at a high of $45,000, which is about five-times the pre-auction appraisal, according to the auction website.

The Harry Potter film franchise comprises of eight films, starring Radcliffe in the title role, is the fourth grossing film series, raking in a whopping with $7.7 billion in worldwide receipts.

In chronological order, the original film adapted from J. K. Rowling’s books, Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone (2001), earned $1.024 billion at the worldwide box office against a budget of $125 million.

The second installment, Harry Potter And The Chamber of Secrets (2002), grossed $926 million while working with a budget of $100 million.

The third in the series saw receipts drop again but Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (2004) was still a huge hit at $798 million while working with $130 million.

Harry Potter And The Goblet of Fire (2005), the fourth installment, saw the box office increase with $896.8 million $150 million.

The box office numbers increased again with Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (2007) at $942.2 million from a $150-200 million budget.

The sixth film in the franchise, Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (2009), stayed around the same as its predecessor at $934.5 while spending $250 million.

The seventh book in the series was broken up into two films that cost $250 million combined: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010) grossed $977.1 million and Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011) brought in amazing $1.342 billion.

The original mechanical animatronic E.T. head made for Steven Spielberg’s wildly popular film E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial was also up for auction.

The winning bidder shelled out a whopping five $635,000 to land the E.T. head created by legendary special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi.

In all, there were 12 bids made by the time the winning bid was offered.

The head is composed of a metal frame and a foam latex outer skin, which had the ability to activate the pulsation of veins in some close-up scenes.

Rambaldi, who also designed the aliens for Spielberg’s Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, made four heads for the shooting of E.T., one as the main animatronic and the others for facial expressions, as well as a costume, according to Wikipedia.

Two little people, Tamara De Treaux and Pat Bilon, as well as 12-year-old Matthew DeMeritt, who was born without legs, took turns wearing the costume during the shoot that went from September to December 1981 on a budget of $10.5 million.

DeMeritt actually walked on his hands and played all of the scenes where the E.T. character was supposed to walk awkwardly or fall over.

The head was placed above the actors, who could see through slits in its chest.

Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Melissa Mathison, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial hit theaters with a thunder in June 1982.

The film tells the story of a boy named Elliot who befriends an extraterrestrial, dubbed E.T., who was left behind on Earth.

Along with his friends and family, Elliott must find a way to help E.T. find his way home.

The cast included Dee Wallace, child stars Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore, as well as Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton, C. Thomas Howell, K.C. Martel and Sean Frye, among others.

By the end of its theatrical run in 1983, the film had grossed $359 million in the U.S. and Canada and $619 million worldwide.

The film was re-released in 1985 and again in 2002, earning another $60 million and $68 million respectively, for a worldwide total of just over $792 million.

Riding high on its box office muscle, the sci-fi hit went on to receive nine Oscar nominations at the 55th Academy Awards, winning for Best Original Score, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound and Best Sound Editing.

Among its five other nominations the film was up for included Best Picture and Best Director for Spielberg.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial also won five Saturn Awards and two Golden Globe Awards during its run in awards season.

In 1994, the film was added to the United States National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, which deemed it to be ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.’