Visitors check out a wall of Oscars at the new Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
As a city, Los Angeles has been defined in large part by the movie industry, which has been anchored here for more than a century telling stories of romance, adventure, comedy, horror and beyond through films.
But there has never been a place in the city where the story of the film industry itself, its cinematic history and impact on the world was told in one place, until the completion of the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which opens Sept. 30.
“It matters for Los Angeles to have this film museum,” said actor Tom Hanks, as he spoke to a crowd during a media preview event a few days before the public opening.
“We all know films are made everywhere in the world, and they are wonderful films and there are other cities with film museums. But with all due respect, a place like Los Angeles, created by the Motion Picture Academy, this museum has really got to be the Parthenon of such places. Do we need a movie museum? Yeah, because we need to celebrate everything that this town has brought to the world and everything the art form has brought to the world in order to bring people together,” said Hanks, who sits on the museum’s board of trustees, as he spoke from the venue’s 1,000-seat David Geffen Theater.
The seven-story, 300,000-square-foot-museum opens to the public is located on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax, adjacent to LACMA and across the street from the Petersen Automotive Museum on Miracle Mile.
The museum is housed in two buildings: the former May Company Building, which was designated a Historic-Cultural Monument in 1992, now renamed the Saban Building; and a new structure connected by two glass bridges and defined by a glass dome dubbed the Sphere Building, which houses the 1,000-seat Geffen Theater.
This is a museum that Los Angeles, the film industry and the Academy have been wanting to build for decades, said Bill Kramer, director and president of the Academy Museum, as he stood in the museum’s Sidney Poitier Grand Lobby.
“We’re thrilled to be here, the time is now for this museum, I really believe that,” Kramer said.
Once a window display for merchandise, the old May Company, now Academy Museum on Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles, CA, now sports Oscars Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The street level entry to the new Academy Museum Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Architect Renzo Piano says his creation for the new Academy Museum can be called a “bubble” but does not like it referred to as the “Death Star”. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Visitors to the Academy Museum walk under the Giant bubble created by architect Renzo Piano at the Academy Museum, Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Architect Renzo Piano says his creation for the new Academy Museum can be called a “bubble” but does not like it referred to as the “Death Star”. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Architect Renzo Piano says his creation for the new Academy Museum can be called a “bubble” but does not like it referred to as the “Death Star”. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Light and shadow play in the lobby area of the galleries as Architect Renzo Piano designed for the new Academy Museum. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Visitors check out a giant mat painting of Mt. Rushmore used in Alfred Hitchcocks “North by Northwest” at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The press swarms Academy Museum executives at the press opening of the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Entrance to the Stories of Cinema gallery at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Scenes from Raging Bull await visitors in the Stories of Cinema gallery at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Bill Kramer, Director and President of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures speaks at the press opening of the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Visitors check out a wall of Oscars at the new Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Media gets a shot of Judy Garlands ruby slippers on display at the new Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The witches hat worn by actress Margaret Hamilton in the Wizard of Oz on display at the new Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
A Peacock Sciopticon from 1895, part of the early cinema displays at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Anna Kendrick, Actor/Producer speaks at the press opening of the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
“Bruce” the life-size shark from “Jaws” greets visitors at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Tom Hanks, Academy Museum trustee, speaks at the press opening of the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Miniature dwarf models from Snow White at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Light and shadow play in the outdoor areas as Architect Renzo Piano designed for the new Academy Museum. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The old May Company, now Academy Museum on Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles, CA, Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The front of the new Academy Museum is the original May Company building, the back contains Architect Renzo Piano’s giant bubble. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Life masks of actors, L to R; Grace Kelly, Clark Gable, Mel Brooks and Don Cheadle on display at the new Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Spike Lee film props at the new Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Spike Lee movie memorabilia on display at the new Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
A costume of 10,000 silk flowers worn by actress Florence Pugh in “Midsummar” on display at the new Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
A wall of Oscars at the new Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
A flatbed KEM film editor on display at the new Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Visitors check out a wall of Oscars at the new Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Lenses used for the filming of Citizen Kane on display at the new Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Visitors check out a wall of Oscars at the new Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors to the public on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The Museum’s 50,000 square feet of gallery space opens with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the diverse and dynamic history of cinema with the world. This includes the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema and the first-ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Plans to build a museum in the former home of the May Company department store on Wilshire Boulevard were announced by the Academy in 2012. That same year Renzo Piano Building, an international architecture firm, was selected as the architect for the project.
Construction began in 2015 with plans to open the facility by 2017. But there were bumps along the way, including budget woes.
In a February 2020 article in Variety, the publication reported that construction costs had ballooned over the years and the project went nearly $100 million over budget from its original $388 million budget figure the Academy announced in 2015.
Then, during the 92nd Academy Awards ceremony in February 2020, three years after it was originally set to open, Hanks announced that the museum would open to the public in December 2020. But then the coronavirus pandemic hit and that opening was again pushed back.
However, Kramer doesn’t think the delays are taking anything away from the excitement of museum’s premiere.
“It’s so emotional, it is so stunning, it exceeds our expectations and I hope everyone feels that way,” he said.
Inside, people can see 1,200 items from films, videos, and interactive displays housed in the 30,000-square-foot multi-level core exhibit “Stories of Cinema” and a temporary exhibition dedicated to animated filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. There’s also the “The Path to Cinema,” where movie history buffs will get to see projection devices used before modern cameras and guests can hold and pose with an Oscar for a personalized awards video.
“Movies connect all of us and we finally have a place in the heart of Los Angeles and the movie capital of the world that connects us to the movies as people,” said Doris Berger, senior director of curatorial affairs at the museum.
Meanwhile, back at the Geffen Theater, which is drenched in red, from its carpet, to its seats and ceiling, Hanks continued to speak of the significance of the long overdue venue.
“We have been talking about this at the Academy for a better part of I think 20 years and the end result exceeds our dreams by about tenfold. It’s an extraordinary building, it’s an amazing space, it’s an inclusive space,” Hanks said.
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
Where: 6067 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles
Tickets: $25 for general admission, $19 for seniors, $15 for students
COVID-19 information: Visitors ages 12 and older must show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours before arrival at the museum. Face masks are required for all visitors ages 2 and older. Masks must be worn at all times in the museum’s public spaces.
