Are we absolutely positive that the Academy Museum is not, in fact, some kind of hoax? The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences first announced plans for its hall of antiquities in 2012—but the project has been delayed many times in the seven years since then. Now the organization admits the museum won’t be ready until at least 2020. How many more years will film lovers wait until they start to suspect this project is actually some sort of elaborate prank?
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Academy says the project won’t be complete before next year’s Oscars on February 9. The museum is being built on the Miracle Mile in Los Angeles; it was initially budgeted to cost $250 million and set to open in 2017. Per THR the project’s cost is now at $388 million—and apparently, both the ever-climbing budget and the repeated delays are due to “unanticipated challenges,” as the trade mag put it, “involving the Death Star-like spherical structure that will be the space's defining feature.” As Darth Vader well knows, the Empire’s greatest creation wasn’t built in a day—but if he’d been faced with this many delays, it seems safe to assume the Star Wars villain would have force-choked at least a few people by now.
The Academy likely knows this—which might be why its latest statement on the matter emphasized the organization’s commitment to creating “a unique and unparalleled museum experience.”
“Achieving this has required a highly complex construction effort—renovating a 1939 L.A. landmark, building a new spherical structure that includes a 1,500-panel glass dome and joining them together to produce 300,000 square feet of spectacular public and exhibition space,” the Academy said. “At every decision point along the way, we have always chosen the path that would enhance the structure, even if that meant construction would take more time to complete. Similarly, when we were presented with opportunities to expand the scope of our exhibitions, interior spaces and collection for the visitor experience, we have embraced them.”
“As we continue working through the permitting process and move closer to completion, we are weighing the overall schedule for major industry events in 2020, and on this basis will choose the optimal moment for our official opening,” the Academy concludes. The unspoken final thought here appears to be, “So please, cut us some slack!”
Although the museum itself won’t be open for a while, we do already know what some of its most exciting artifacts will be. As revealed last year, memorabilia will include Arnold Schwarzenegger’s animatronic severed head from Terminator 2, the scepter from 1963’s Cleopatra, a Nicolas Cage costume from Wild at Heart, and a handful of props from Ben-Hur. With any luck, this is the final delay before cinephiles can stop in and see them all in one place.
