Wilson from 'Cast Away', Bond suit for sale in mega film prop auction

LONDON, Sept 28 (Reuters) – From a James Bond suit to a screen matched ‘Wilson’, the ball serving as Chuck Noland’s personified companion in the Tom Hanks film Cast Away, a huge selection of movie memorabilia worth $7.5 million will be auctioned in London in November.

More than 1,000 lots, made up of costumes, props and other items are expected to fetch more than 5.5 million pounds ($7.52 million) at the Nov 9-11 auction by film and television memorabilia company Prop Store.

They include a full-size T-800 Endoskeleton from Terminator 2: Judgment Day, estimated at 60,000 – 80,000 pounds, Sean Connery’s James Bond suit from You Only Live Twice, with a price tag of 50,000 – 70,000 pounds, and Brad Pitt’s 8,000 – 12,000 pounds Achilles’ sword from Troy.

Leading the lots is a light-up ILM X-wing filming miniature from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, with a price estimate of 200,000 – 300,000 pounds.

“People buy this stuff to preserve it,” Tim Lawes, head of consignments at Prop Store, told Reuters.

“Basically what we’re about is the preservation of movie history and (for) most of the people that buy from us, these things will go into display cabinets, be it in somebody’s house, in a boardroom or in a museum. So these things are very much cherished and looked after.”

Movie fans can also buy Marty McFly’s hoverboard in Back to the Future Part II and a Stormtrooper Helmet worn in Return of the Jedi.

There are also costumes from Elf, Spider-Man, Blade Runner and Shakespeare in Love.

“I think for most people (the appeal is) probably nostalgia. The higher value items tend to be from films from the 70s and 80s and these are being purchased by people who now have a bit of money,” Lawes said.

“They’re recapturing that little moment of their childhood – perhaps watching a film for the first time on VHS or DVD or watching it around Christmas on television with their family … That’s really the majority of the marketplace.”