In 1983 the video game industry crashed in the U.S. One of the most legendary tales from that period involved Atari‘s rushed video game adaptation of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.

Atari had allegedly manufactured a far too ambitious number of cartridges for the game, leading to a massive revenue loss on the product. Legends since that time have held that Atari took millions of unsold Atari console cartridges, tossed them in an Alamogordo, New Mexico landfill and covered them with concrete.

Now a new documentary is looking to discover the truth behind the legend. The movie, directed by Zak Penn (writer on screenplays such as X-Men: The Last Stand and creator of the Alphas TV show), will cover the excavation of the alleged Atari dump site.

Though the production reportedly ran into trouble getting permission for the excavation, the event is now scheduled to take place on April 26. Gaming fans are now being invited to come to the dig site and watch as the truth comes out. The day-long excavation will take place from 9:30 am to 7:30 pm at the Alamogordo Landfill.

This entire endeavor is being funded in part by Microsoft’s Xbox Entertainment Studios as part of its new documentaries initiative. The company will be producing a documentary series that will air first on Xbox consoles.

The Atari landfill documentary is the first of these upcoming documentaries. The project is also being produced in cooperation with Simon Chinn and Jonathan Chinn studio Lightbox. The project is cooperating with Fuel Entertainment, the company that has exclusive excavation rites to the landfill in question.

In addition to curious gaming fans, Microsoft is inviting the media to cover the excavation event. A team of archaeologists will be at the site, as will representatives from all of the parties involved in the project. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial developer Howard Scott Warshaw will also make a special appearance at the site.

Image via Microsoft