It wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that George Lucas has done very well for himself, through a combination of a very savvy merchandising deal and the incredible movie-saving efforts of some people who work underneath him, he’s made himself the pointy end of one of the most lucrative intellectual property empires in the world – and now he’s spending that hard-earned cash on a huge fuck-off museum.
Lucas has been quick to stress that it’s not a ‘Star Wars‘ museum, but the very striking building bears a pretty wild resemblance to Padmé‘s ships from episodes 1 and 2, in that it’s silvery and squiggly and looks fucking crazy:
The Museum of Narrative Art will host works that celebrate storytelling in a bunch of different mediums, which will include a bunch of Lucas’ own memorabilia from ‘Star Wars‘ (some original models of the spaceships and some concept art are already confirmed), some memorabilia from his other movies, and some much more traditional art, according to LA mayor Eric Garcetti:
“This is a collection of narrative art in a city that has the best storytellers and storymakers in the world. The best collection of Norman Rockwell paintings on Earth. Works from R. Crumb.”
The museum, which will hopefully not be called MONA for short because we already have one of those in Tasmania, will cost a whopping $1.3 billion and employ 1500 construction people for 3 and a half years for a proposed opening date of May 4th 2020 (get it, they made a ‘Star Wars‘ joke).
LA and San Francisco had been locked in a heated battle for which city would house the unbelievably futuristic looking building, but the museum’s board of directors confirmed today that LA won out:
“After extensive due diligence and deliberation, the Board of Directors of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is pleased to announce plans to build the museum in Exposition Park in Los Angeles. We have been humbled by the overwhelmingly positive support we received from both San Francisco and Los Angeles during our selection process. Settling on a location proved to be an extremely difficult decision precisely because of the desirability of both sites and cities.”
I figure if I start saving now I could probably afford to take a trip to the States when it opens in 2020.
Source: Hollywood Reporter.
Photos: Lucas Museum.
