Eight years since it was announced, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will finally open on Dec. 14, 2020.
Tom Hanks, a museum trustee and co-chair of the Academy Museum campaign, made the announcement during Sunday’s live Oscars telecast. “There is plenty of culture to be found in the City of Angels,” he said, noting that Los Angeles even had a selfie museum, “but there has never been a museum dedicated to the art and science of motion pictures” — until this upcoming winter.
Hanks joked that during a visit on the morning before the ceremony, he was putting on some drywall at the construction site at Wilshire and Fairfax and Brad Pitt “was working on the roof with his shirt off,” a nod to Pitt’s role on Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
“We cannot wait to welcome the whole world to the Academy Museum. When our doors open on Dec. 14, our thrilling combination of exhibitions, screenings, and public and educational programs will create unparalleled experiences for movie lovers everywhere,” Academy Museum director Bill Kramer said in a statement.
On Friday, the Academy offered The Hollywood Reporter a sneak peek at the museum, where it was revealed that the institution’s fundraising goals were 95 percent complete and that it had raised $368 million in pledges and cash thus far. The new museum space is located in the former May Company Building on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue.
Highlights include the 1,000-seat David Geffen Theater, decked out with plush red handmade Italian chairs, and the glass Barbra Streisand Bridge, which connects the concrete 1939 building to architect Renzo Piano’s spherical glass dome structure, with its sweeping views of the Hollywood Hills. One of the first exhibits will be an immersive look at the world of Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli animated films.
The Academy Museum has experienced bumps on the road to its unveiling: The project, announced in 2012, was initially estimated at $250 million and was scheduled to open in 2017. After construction encountered several delays, the project is now coming in at $388 million. In the meantime, Museum director Kerry Brougher left his post and was replaced by Kramer.
The 92nd annual Academy Awards took place at the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood and were televised live on ABC.
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