Original movie posters are the most desirable collectibles for movie documents collectors. Original movie posters were produced by movie studios and distributed to movie theatres to advertise a film. They were not sold directly to the public, and were supposed to be returned to the distributor after film exploitation, or destroyed, creating limited supply and valuable investment.
But what posters are the most coveted ?
We propose below a ranking of most expensive posters ever sold.
The movie poster market beeing very active, please remember that prices are open to variation, therefore this grading must be considered as instant photograph of the market.
Number 1 : Metropolis (German poster, 1927) - sold 690 000 $ in 2005
Number 2 : The Mummy (US poster, 1932) - sold 453 500 $ in 1997
This movie poster was the top expensive poster for 8 years until 2005, before being dethroned by Metropolis which was sold 690 000 $
Number 3 : The Black Cat (US poster, 1934) - sold 334 600 $ in 2009
Number 4 : The Bride of Frankenstein (US poster, 1935) - sold 334 600 $ in 2007
Number 5 : Dracula (US poster, 1931) - sold 310 700 $ in 2009
Notice that all movies of this ranking ar Horror, scifi or fantastic movies, and that they are all from the 20's and the 30's. This ranking confirms a long-time tendancy : posters related to cult movies from the golden age are always the most coveted, especially the Universal first horror movies.