A film museum comes to Hollywood

The museum was commissioned by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization that awards the Oscars, and work began four years ago. Renzo Piano is the star architect behind the design, which will outfit a former luxury department store from 1939 with a futuristic dome and a gigantic movie theater. Projected construction costs have doubled to roughly $390 million (€356 million).

The former department store, a registered landmark building, has a unique feature: The cylindrical cornerpiece that is decorated with 350,000 Venetian gold-leaf mosaic tiles. Unlike exploding costs for European concert halls, which affect state coffers, the film museum depends on private donations from individuals and film studios. As thanks, parts of the building will be named after them.

For $1 million, stars like Sophia Loren and Tony Curtis secured arches bearing their names in the new museum. Director Steven Spielberg, a big donor to the project, will have an entire gallery named after him. Oscars will be displayed in the museum, as well other less sparkly items such as the head of the creatures from "Alien" (1979), based on designs by H.R. Giger.

More scares will be provided by the animation masks used in two Tim Burton films: "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993) and "James and the Giant Peach" (1996). The wide-open mouths — Shock? Horror? — could resemble the faces of the museum's trustees when they look at the balance sheet and see a roughly $20 million shortfall.

The Academy itself has a large historical film archive that includes more than 3,500 items, from photos to posters, costumes to props. The museum's exhibition will also include items on loan, such as the above dress. Worn by Anjelica Huston as Morticia in "The Addams Family" (1991), it had been in her personal closet.

The Academy keeps its print, graphics and other research material in the Margaret Herrick Library, named after its former exectuive director. The library donated the above page from the script of "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962) to the museum. It's full of Gregory Peck's notes for his role as Atticus Finch. Peck won an Oscar for his performance in the film, which is based on the novel by Harper Lee.

While such typewriters were often the cause of many a secretary's hand injuries, this one contributed to one of Alfred Hitchcock's suspense masterpieces. Joseph Stefano used it to write the screenplay for "Pyscho" (1960), an adaptation of the similarly named novel by Robert Block. In 2001 the American Film Institute named "Pyscho" the best American thriller.

Costume designers Kurt and Bart made this eye-catching outfit available to the museum. Do you recognize the Oscar-winning role it was made for? Actor and singer Jared Leto wore this costume in 2013 when he played Rayon, a transgender woman, in the film "Dallas Buyers Club" alongside Matthew McConaughey. Both actors won Academy Awards for their roles.

This shoes come from the Academy's own collection — and by shoes, we mean magic ruby red slippers! Judy Garland wore them in 1939 when she played Dorothy Gale in "The Wizard of Oz." In the original book by L. Frank Baum, the slippers are actually silver, but the creative team decided to change their color to take full advantage of the latest developments in color films technology.

These and other film items will be displayed in the 30,000-square-meter museum, located smack in Los Angeles' museum mile. It is unclear when the building will open to the public; the opening date has been postponed multiple times, and a new concrete one has yet to be determined. Organizers insist, however, that doors will open sometime in 2020.