World’s Most Expensive Movie Posters

A movie poster collection may be anything from an extension of another hobby to a sign of serious passion for film history. One buyer may be willing to pay $10 or $20 for an original “Fellowship of the Ring” one-sheet while another pays $47,000 for one of the few remaining “Grand Hotel” posters. With the latter type of collector in mind, we turn to the most expensive movie posters in the world.

“Metropolis” – $690,000

A private collector acquired this expensive movie poster at auction from the Austrian National Library in Vienna in 2005. Only three other copies of the poster are known to have survived to the current day—one in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, another in a private collection and a second copy in the Austrian National Library. The expensive poster was created to promote Fritz Lang’s 1927 science fiction masterpiece, “Metropolis.”

The German film, set in the year 2026, dealt with the schism between two societal castes in the film’s titular city—the wealthy thinkers and planners, and the underground working class. The film cost roughly $14 million to make, adjusted for inflation, and was the most expensive silent movie at the time of its release. Sadly, much of the original footage has been lost and it cannot be viewed in its intended form.

“The Bride of Frankenstein” – estimated at $700,000

Heritage Auctions expects to sell this teaser one-sheet, the only surviving poster of its kind, at their Beverly Hills Signature Movie Poster Auction in November, 2010. The poster comes from the Collection of Todd Feiertag, likely the largest collection of vintage horror movie posters of all time.

“The Bride of Frankenstein” is the sequel to the original 1931 “Frankenstein,” starring Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s monster. In the film, the monster coerces his humbled creator into creating another monster to serve as his mate. The film cost just under $400,000 to produce, or around $6 million in today’s currency.