The Tussauds Group, the UK company that owns Alton Towers and Thorpe Park, is to open two new waxwork museums in the US as part of its international expansion programme.
Madame Tussauds Washington DC is scheduled to open later this year while Madame Tussauds Hollywood is expected to open in 2008, at a combined cost of US$75m (£38m).
Peter Phillipson, chief executive of Tussauds, said: “The new sites will offer us a great opportunity to continue the successful roll out of the Madame Tussauds brand internationally.
“They will strengthen our position in the US, where Madame Tussauds is currently ranked among the top five visitor attractions in New York and is the leading family attraction in Las Vegas.”
The 27,000sq ft (2,500sq m) museum in the US capital will aim to “bring Washington’s political history to life” and will feature an exact replica of the White House’s Oval Office. Construction will begin in spring.
The Hollywood site will be Tussauds’ first on the West Coast and be built next to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard – which attracts 4.2 million visitors a year due to the handprints left by movie stars.
The 45,000sq ft (4,180sq m) attraction, designed by LA architect Michael Rotundi and the John Ash Group, will mark the first time that a Madame Tussauds site has been built from scratch.
Construction on the Hollywood museum is due to begin in the first half of this year. Details: www.tussauds.com
Photograph: International stars such as David and Victoria Beckham will be featured at Madame Tussauds Hollywood
