Record-Breaking Entertainment Week, Led by $14.75 Million 'Citizen Kane' Rosebud Sled, Realizes Combined $24.96 Million at Heritage

The second-highest-grossing Entertainment auction ever took place July 16-18, totaling $23.5 million and featuring treasures from movie and television history DOWNLOAD DIGITAL PRESS KIT DALLAS, Texas (July 21, 2025) — Entertainment auction history continues to be rewritten by Heritage Auctions, as its July 15-18 Entertainment blockbuster — which kicked off Tuesday with the legacy of Cecil B. DeMille and wrapped up Friday with the likes of Kevin McAllister's knitted Home Alone hat — totaled $24.96 million. Hollywood's past and present producer-directors had a hand in shaping the event: The intimate DeMille event on July 15 included the sale of the DeMille-commissioned granite Ten Commandment tablets for $325,000 and totaled $1.4 million; the following three-day July 16-18 Hollywood/Entertainment Signature® Auction, which is the second-highest grossing Entertainment auction in history, landed at $23.54 million, topped by the $14.75 million sale of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane sled known as Rosebud, consigned by Gremlins director Joe Dante. Heritage now holds the records for the top six Entertainment memorabilia auction totals, including last December's showstopping event that resulted in $38,615 million and was led by the $32.5 million result for Dorothy's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz — the most valuable piece of entertainment memorabilia ever sold. In fact, Heritage's Executive Vice President Joe Maddalena, who oversees Entertainment at the auction house, has steered each of these record-breaking auctions. "What we witnessed this week was a celebration of legacy, vision and storytelling," says Maddalena. "To unite pieces from Cecil B. DeMille and Orson Welles and beyond — and to see collectors respond with such passion — proves that Hollywood history continues to resonate as deeply today as ever before." And now the Rosebud sled, which hit the block on July 16, is the second most-valuable piece of movie memorabilia ever sold. The previous auction records for an example of a screen-used Rosebud — only a few versions were produced for the 1941 production — are $60,500 sold to producer-director Steven Spielberg in 1982, and $233,000 to an anonymous buyer in 1996. "I've had the honor of protecting this piece of cinematic history for decades," says Joe Dante. "To see Rosebud find a new home — and make history in the process — is both surreal and deeply gratifying. It's a testament to the enduring power of storytelling." Throughout the week there were numerous star attractions spanning cinema and television's rich history, and it launched on Tuesday with the July 15 Treasures From the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Collection Hollywood/Entertainment Signature® Auction. Presenting 274 lots, it was an unprecedented offering from one of the most influential figures in entertainment. Highlights include the aforementioned granite Ten Commandments tablets commissioned by DeMille for his 1956 epic at $325,000, as well as a set of the director's canceled checks and stationery which realized $93,750, and the original Pathé camera used to film Hollywood's first feature — DeMille's 1914 film The Squaw Man — which sold for $50,000. The auction was made possible through the generosity of DeMille's granddaughter, Cecilia De Mille Presley, a documentary filmmaker and founding board member of the American Film Institute, and his grandson Joseph Harper, both of whom were effectively raised by DeMille on his film sets and at his home. "It was a big home … big enough [for] items from his long and successful film career," Mrs. Presley says. "No one has had a greater impact on the history and development of the motion picture." "Each item in the collection is a tribute not only to DeMille's legacy but also to the story of Hollywood's birth and rise," says Maddalena. "The DeMille auction presented an unprecedented opportunity to connect with the very roots of film history." The rest of the week continued in a chronological sweep of the entertainment landscape. On Wednesday, the three-day Entertainment Signature® auction commenced; that day's results were led by the remarkable $14.75 million result, including the buyer's premium, for Citizen Kane's Rosebud sled. The iconic prop had belonged to producer-director Joe Dante since 1984. Long thought lost, the original sled is one of only three known to survive and was miraculously saved from disposal by Dante while filming on the former RKO lot. Also on Wednesday, Robert Peak's Apocalypse Now painting broke auction records for the artist and more than doubled the record for Peak when it sold for $687,500. (Heritage holds all records for Peak, the master of the modern movie poster, including the most recent high-water mark for the 2024 sale of another key artwork for Apocalypse Now for $300,000). The artwork was one of twelve original Peak works on offer in the auction, and saw his original key artwork for Excalibur realize $137,000 and his alternate comp key art for Apocalypse Now sell for $75,000. Thursday's auction session highlights included a screen-used I Dream of Jeannie genie bottlethat sold for $400,000 — the vintage original genie bottle prop, repurposed from a 1964 Jim Beam Christmas-edition glass whiskey decanter, was used during production of the iconic NBC sitcom and signed by the show's star Barbara Eden. The "Luke Skywalker" Red Five X-wing Starfighter filming miniature used in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back realized $375,000. Late in the day, Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade screen-matched signature bullwhip, which had been presented to HRH Prince Charles at the 1989 Royal Premiere of the movie, sold for a headline-grabbing $525,000. The one-sheet poster final key artwork by Drew Struzan for Big Trouble in Little China — John Carpenter's 1986 cult classic — sold for $300,000, and the Citroën 2CV driven by James Bond (Roger Moore) in the car chase sequence of For Your Eyes Only sold for $150,000. Friday's session continued the success of the previous days: Kurt Russell's "Wyatt Earp" photo-matched and inscribed Colt Buntline Special single-action revolver from the enduring favorite Tombstone drew an exceptional $525,000. Macauly Culkin's "Kevin McCallister" knit snow cap from Home Alonesold for $68,000, and a complete set of J.K. Rowling-signed hardcover first editions of her Harry Potter series, including the rare hardback issue of the first printing of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, brought $162,000. "The strength of this week's results lie not just in the marquee names, but in the extraordinary diversity of the material," says Maddalena. "Whether it's an iconic sled, a genie bottle or a screen-used bullwhip gifted to royalty, each artifact tells a story — and it's that emotional connection that continues to drive the market forward." Complete results for the July 16-18 Hollywood/Entertainment Signature® Auction can be found here (and here's a link to a brief video featuring Rosebud's win on the block), and complete results for the July 15 Treasures From the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Collection Hollywood/Entertainment Signature® Auction can be found here. Heritage Auctions is the largest fine art and collectibles auction house founded in the United States, and the world's largest collectibles auctioneer. Heritage maintains offices in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Palm Beach, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Heritage also enjoys the highest Online traffic and dollar volume of any auction house on earth (source: SimilarWeb and Hiscox Report). The Internet's most popular auction-house website, HA.com, has more than 2 million registered bidder-members and searchable free archives of 7,000,000 past auction records with prices realized, descriptions and enlargeable photos. Reproduction rights routinely granted to media for photo credit. For breaking stories, follow us: HA.com/Facebook and HA.com/Twitter . Link to this release or view prior press releases . Hi-Res images available: Christina Rees, Director of Communications 214-409-1341; CRees@HA.com