Imaged by HA
Heritage Auctions sold the Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) Half-Sheet Original Artwork for a Key Poster by Tom Jung for $3.875 million on December 10, 2025 at their Hollywood & Entertainment Signature Auction.
This historic piece of original key poster art was showcased on the cover of the movie’s original theatrical program, a 24-sheet billboard, and multiple magazine and newspaper ads that ran from May to June 1977. The sale sets a record for Star Wars items at auction, passing Darth Vader’s lightsaber at $3.654 million and the Red Leader X-Wing prop at $3.125 million (see “Prop Sells for Over $3 Million“). It also sets a Heritage record for most expensive movie poster art sold.
The Tom Jung key art masterpiece came from the family of legendary Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz and was painted on a board measuring 21″ by 34″ in acrylic and airbrush. The iconic composition depicts the entire story of A New Hope in a single image, featuring an ominous image of Darth Vader hovering over heroes Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Obi Wan Kenobi, and the two Droids, C-3PO and R2-D2. Parts of this composition were clearly inspired by Frank Frazetta’s work, particularly the image of Luke and Leia, which is almost a mirror image of the composition of A Princess of Mars (see “Frazetta Painting“).
The auction realized over $7.7 milllion total. The Star Wars painting wasn’t even the top billing in the auction; that honor went to Margaret Hamilton’s screen-matched Wicked Witch hat from The Wizard of Oz (1939). The hat realized over half a million dollars. Other points of interest in the auction included an Ewok Village Matte Painting from the Star Wars: Return of the Jedi production (sold for $162,500), the Biff Tannen Grays Sports Almanac from Back to the Future II (sold for $37,500), and Deadpool 2 production-made mask (sold for $32,500).
Click on Gallery below for full-size images!
Source: ICv2
