The Holy Grail of Rare Star Wars Posters is Up For Sale (& It Could Cost $20,000+)

Across its 49 years of existence, the Star Wars franchise has been one of the most consistent in terms of movie posters. From the very beginning, the series was able to sell itself to fans using iconic imagery drawn by artists inspired by the films, such as Tom Jung’s original one-sheet for the 1977 original, which features Luke Skywalker holding his lightsaber up into the sky as the wind blows his shirt open, with the terrifying visage of Darth Vader superimposed into the sky. Though none of this really is reflected in the contents of the movie itself, it ivokes the heroism of the lead character and the menace of the antagonist in major ways.

Naturally, Star Wars was able to continue this trend of delivering iconic movie posters after the first film became a certified blockbuster. Perhaps the only other image more iconic than Star Wars‘ original poster is the one that followed it, with Roger Kastel’s work on The Empire Strikes Back. Kastel’s poster not only set the tone for the darker follow-up but created imagery that the series hasn’t been able to top since. Now, Propstore Auction is set to sell a version of Kastel’s posters, but not just any version, they have an incredibly rare one that could fetch a major price point.

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Original Empire Strikes Back Poster Could Sell for Over

The version of The Empire Strikes Back poster that PropstoreAuction has just listed, and which will officially be available for bidding on May 22, 2026, is not only the version with artwork by Roger Kastel but is a UK-style “Quad” poster, which has different dimensions from traditional US movie posters. According to the site, these versions of the poster were intended to be trimmed and put on display in the London Underground subway system; however, the version available at auction was not trimmed, nor displayed, referred to as “the Holy Grail of Star Wars posters.”

Bidding on the poster is estimated to have a final bid anywhere between £10,000 – 20000, a total that in American dollars could be well over $27,000. It’s worth noting that the Quad style poster has been linen-backed and does have some fold line restoration in order to give it a totally flat appearance. The auction house notes that the poster’s quality is “Very Fine+,” which makes its estimated auction price so interesting, even for a poster that has been restored and which has a ballpark grade around an 8.5 out of 10, it’s still on track to fetch a major sum.

The Empire Strikes Back poster isn’t the only Star Wars item in the lot that is on track to be held, either, with Propstore Auction also selling itemsl ike call sheets and production paperwork from the first Star Wars, concept art for Attack of the Clones, and even costumes from Star Wars: The Force Awakens and props from Star Wars: The Last Jedi.