In recent years, vintage film posters have been fetching seriously large sums at auction. Original promos for classics from the 1920s and 1930s, particularly early horror and sci-fi films, attract the highest prices – and big-name collectors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicolas Cage are prepared to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for the rarest and most sought-after.

Read on to discover what we believe are the 19 most expensive posters in history, ranked from least to most pricey. We've also adjusted the figures for inflation to give you an idea of their staggering value in today's money.

All dollar amounts in US dollars

A mint-condition one-sheet poster for Flying Down to Rio, the cheery Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical from 1933, went under the hammer at a Heritage Auctions sale in Dallas in 2008, fetching a hefty $239,000. That's the equivalent of $355,000 (£266k) in today's money.

This extremely rare three-sheet King Kong poster fetched a huge $244,500 ($469k/£352k today) at a Sotheby's auction in 1999, making it one of the most valuable posters ever sold at the time. The buyer was Cecilia Presley, granddaughter of the Hollywood filmmaker and actor Cecil B. DeMille, who went on to donate it to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation.

This very rare insert poster sparked a frenzy when it was unearthed in 2013. Believed to be entirely unique, collectors had spent decades attempting to track one down. It fetched a cool $262,900 ($361k/£271k today) when it went under the hammer at Heritage Auctions.

This one-sheet teaser for The Invisible Man, the tongue-in-cheek horror classic from 1933, fetched a not-too-shabby $274,850 ($359k/£269k today) at auction in 2017. While teaser posters for upcoming films are common today, the practice was barely heard of in 1933, making this an extremely rare example.

Although not one of the more recognised early horror films today, The Black Cat was nonetheless a huge hit for Universal in 1934. Just four copies of this poster are known to exist, with one fetching $286,800 ($442k/£332k today) at a Heritage Auctions sale in 2007.

Spoiler alert! This isn't the last time you'll see a 1931 Dracula movie poster on this list. Only a few of these posters are known to have survived, and one that previously belonged to Nicolas Cage was sold by Heritage Auctions in 2009 for $310,700 ($463k/£347k today).

One of the more recent sales in this round-up, a one-sheet of this 1931 Frankenstein poster managed to fetch $312,000 ($327k/£245k today) when it went under the hammer in 2023.

While Dracula debuted in 1931, this poster was produced to promote the 1938 re-release of the Bela Lugosi classic. Its unusual and striking green tint makes it much sought after by collectors, one of whom splashed out $312,000 ($386k/£290k today) for a prime specimen in 2020.

This one-sheet copy of the Style B poster for The Black Cat, a 1934 movie headlined by the titans of early horror Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, fetched $334,600 ($516k/£387k today) in 2007 at a Heritage Auctions sale in Dallas.

A super-rare poster advertising the sequel to the 1931 Frankenstein movie starring Boris Karloff came up for auction in 2007. It sold for a very respectable $334,600 ($516k/£387k today).

This isn't the last of Metropolis you'll see in this round-up. Only a small handful of posters from the film's original release are believed to have survived. This three-sheet poster features German text and was snapped up at a 2000 Sotheby's auction for the princely sum of $357,750 ($664k/£498k today).

A poster for the debut Frankenstein movie achieved $358,500 ($484k/£363k today) at a Heritage Auctions sale in 2015. The only six-foot example of the 1931 poster, it was discovered by collector Steve Wilkin in a shuttered movie theatre in Long Island, New York.

This large six-sheet poster promoting all-time classic Casablanca fetched a very tidy sum when it went under the hammer at Heritage Auctions in 2020. Despite being a popular poster, this particular specimen boasted far superior portraits and sold for $384,000 ($474k/£356k today).

A genuine three-sheet poster promoting the very first King Kong movie fetched a supersized $388,375 ($541k/£406k today) at a Heritage Auctions sale in Dallas back in 2012. The poster was in remarkably mint condition, hence the high price.

When this original poster for The Mummy sold at Sotheby's New York in 1997 for $453,500 ($904k/£678k today), it was the most expensive film poster ever sold at auction and held the record for eight years. Only two copies are thought to exist.

The joint-third most expensive movie poster sold at auction, the last surviving copy of this US poster for London After Midnight, a silent horror film starring Lon Chaney, sold for $478,000 ($646k/£485k today) at a Heritage Auctions sale in 2014.

In 2017, an Italian poster for Casablanca realised $478,000 ($624k/£468k today) at a Heritage Auctions sale. In recent years, the auction house has sold a number of posters for the film, each of which has gone under the hammer for several hundred thousand dollars.

A one-sheet copy of the poster for the 1931 Dracula movie starring Bela Lugosi fetched $525,800 ($686k/£515k today) at a Heritage Auctions sale in Dallas in 2017, smashing the record for the most expensive movie poster sold at auction. Taking private sales into account, however, it's only the second most expensive movie poster in history...

The holy grail, an original three-sheet international poster for the Fritz Lang classic Metropolis was bought privately in 2006 for a staggering $690,000, the equivalent of $1.1 million (£825k) in today's money. The international version is essentially the same as the domestic poster, but without the German credits. Just four copies of the Art Deco masterpiece, which was designed by artist Heinz Schulz-Neudamm, are believed to exist, and none other than Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCaprio is rumoured to be the proud owner.

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