Reels, Rosebud and R2-D2: The academy museum is set to roll

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has wanted to open a museum dedicated to films and filmmaking for nearly as long as its members have been making movies with sound and handing out Oscars. It finally happens with Thursday's opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

Here's a spoiler-free look at Los Angeles' new seven-story, 300,000-square-foot movie palace.

A LONG TIME AGO...

The museum has been hanging in the Hollywood air so long that the word “finally” is found in nearly every story or comment on the opening.

“Finally, at last, boy howdy hey, welcome to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures," Tom Hanks said at a media preview last week. Hanks, a member of the board of directors, led the fundraising for the $388 million project along with fellow actor Annette Bening and Walt Disney Executive Chairman Robert Iger.

Announced in 2011 and first slated to open as early as 2016, the museum was beset with delays that are typical for such a project, along with novel ones, like the discovery of Ice Age fossils more suited to the La Brea Tar Pits down the block. Then came a wave of pandemic postponements.

Academy President David Rubin told The Associated Press that the institution was playing the long game, and that the museum, at least in concept, was in the works not for a decade but nearly a century.

“We’ve kept the candle burning for 92 years, said Rubin, the fifth president since the project was announced. ”We’ve weathered a lot of vicissitudes to get here. But it’s time."

WHAT'S PLAYING

Bruce, a shark made from the “Jaws” mold, hangs above the museum's bank of escalators. It's one of the few features visitors can see in its open spaces. In order to take in the ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz,” a certain sled from “Citizen...