Would you pay $525,800 (approx £395,506) for a movie poster? Maybe the average cinema-goer wouldn't, but someone did just that.

At the Heritage Auctions' Movie Posters Auction in Dallas, Texas on Monday (November 27), a poster from the 1931 adaptation of Dracula was put on sale.

The movie was based on Bram Stoker's novel and starred Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula, following the pretty similar Nosferatu (1922) as one of the first horror films in actual existence.

It also proved a hugely influential movie for years to come; inspiring films such as Underworld, Bram Stroker's Dracula, Dracula Untold, Dracula 2000 and, arguably, even the Twilight series.

And it obviously had quite the effect on one generous bidder, who paid over $500k for it at auction, making the poster the most expensive movie poster ever sold.

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Bear Grylls//Digital Spy

"The Dracula poster is a rare, important poster that sparked intense bidding among some of our elite collectors," Heritage Auctions Vintage Posters Director Grey Smith said in a press release (via ComicBook.com).

"Considering the sheer beauty of the poster and the timeless popularity of the film, it's not a surprise that the demand was so high."

"It is a matter of opinion, but this poster probably is the most beautiful of all of the styles, and one of only two styles that pictures Bela Lugosi in realistic terms or a faithful rendering – the other is a photographic image."

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Bear Grylls//Digital Spy

According to the press release, the poster previously "spent many years in the family of Lt. Col. George J. Mitchell, Jr., an Associate Member of the American Society of Cinematographers".

Well, the good news is the family of Lt. Col. George J. Mitchell, Jr are now probably going to have a very good Christmas indeed.

From: Digital Spy