Sir Peter Jackson will invest millions of dollars into a blockbuster movie museum and convention centre in the film-maker’s hometown of Wellington, New Zealand.
The NZ$134m (US$88.7m, €81.7m, £59.1m), three-storey development, which will cover more than 10,000sq m (107,639sq ft) on prime waterfront land, will be built in the heart of Wellington’s central business district pending city council approval.
Also backed by Sir Richard Taylor – who worked closely with Jackson on the
Lord of the Rings series, creating the films’ props and special effects – the pair have formed a new company known as The Movie Museum Ltd and are making substantial investments into the new development.
The museum will offer both permanent and temporary exhibition space, as well as a retail shop, café and permanent office space. In addition to memorabilia from the sets of Jackson’s movies or worked on by Taylor’s Weta Workshop, the museum will also include items from the pair’s personal memorabilia collections.
According to a statement from the duo, who also worked together designing the props and special effects for Jackson’s interpretation of
King Kong, the company would "realise the dream of a movie museum in Wellington which brings together material from their many film projects as well our own world-renowned movie collections.”
"The Movie Museum will be a home for thousands of the priceless designs, props, models and set pieces from numerous film productions, from whole worlds to single weapons, creatures to costumes, make-up to miniatures, vehicles and more – an astonishing archive of Wellington film-making has been collected, curated and is ready to be shared,” added project director George Hickton.
"This museum could only be realised in Wellington. The company's founders all live in Wellington and it is also the place that some 2000 talented film-makers and craftspeople call home. The Movie Museum will celebrate their work, bringing the film industry closer to the people and communities which support it."
The project, which would be a joint venture with the council, will be developed over the course of a decade, creating more than 1,000 jobs. The internal fit-out of the museum would be paid for by Jackson and Taylor, while the council would fund the convention centre. If plans are approved the museum will be open by 2018.
