An auction of film props set to make £6 million is showing its lots to the public in London until the end of the month.
An auction of film props — set to make £6 million (€6.8m) — is showing its lots to the public in London until the end of September.
Movie fans can peruse Jack Nicholson's Joker suit from 1989 film Batman, or his axe from The Shining, which made its way to the auction via one of the plasterers who had worked on the film, and bought the axe in a post-shoot prop sale for £5 to use it to chop wood at home.
A Stormtrooper helmet from the first Star Wars film, 1977's A New Hope, is expected to fetch £180,000 (€203,000)
Props from Jurassic Park, Judge Dredd and Gladiator will be going under the hammer, and the Holy Hand Grenade from Monty Python's Holy Grail – built from the ballcock of a toilet – is also up for (careful) grabs.
Stephen Lane, CEO of The Prop Store, which organised the auction, explained the appeal of silver screen relics. "It's about that connection to an experience that a lot of people have had when they've been growing up. So a lot of people will buy from films that they've seen when they were in the cinema with their mum and dad, and [they want to] recapture that."
The two-day live auction is set for September 30 - October 1, with the lots on display in a free exhibition at London's BFI Imax until then.