In the past, we’ve reported on major sales of key comic book issues and movie memorabilia. The latest piece on the block comes from one of the seminal pieces of science fiction film history… Fritz Lang’s 1927 classic ‘Metropolis’.

There are believed to be only four copies of the original theatrical poster for ‘Metropolis’ that have survived in the more than eight decades since the film’s original release. Combine that with the long-lasting importance of the film and the recent resurgence in its cult status and you end up with what at least one expert has dubbed “the crown jewel of the poster world”.

Movie memorabilia collector Kenneth Schacter purchased his copy of the ‘Metropolis’ poster in 2005 for a record-setting $690,000. So, with this holy grail of movie posters in his possession, what would prompt him to turn around and sell it a mere seven years later? In a word… bankruptcy. Schacter buys and sells posters for profit. After taking out a massive half-million dollar loan last year to buy more posters, Schacter fell on hard times leading him to file for bankruptcy. Now Schacter’s entire movie poster collection is being sold off to repay his massive debt.

Many analysts are are already speculating that the previous sales record for the ‘Metropolis’ poster may be shattered with the new sale, with some even predicting a sale as high as $1 million for the poster.

Also on the auction block are copies of the original 1933 poster for ‘King Kong’ and a teaser poster for ‘The Invisible Man’. With the ‘King Kong’ poster expected to fetch nearly as much as the ‘Metropolis’ poster, it’s believed that Schacter’s posters could end up bringing in around $5 million for the lot.

Heritage House Auctions will be handling the sale of Schacter’s collection. There’s no date set yet but it will probably be before the end of the year. That gives you a few months to start saving your allowance to get some movie poster history of your own. And, even if you’re not a film buff, the ‘Metropolis’ poster is a brilliant piece of art deco beauty that I would love to have hanging in my office. So… if you’re looking for a gift for your humble editor, you know what to get me.

Source: Blastr