The Long-Awaited Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Will Open in April 2021 With a Hayao Miyazaki Exhibition

The opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has been delayed multiple times—first due to construction setbacks and then as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, Deadline reports that the highly anticipated attraction has a new opening date: The Academy Museum is scheduled to debut to the public on April 30, 2021, with an inaugural exhibition celebrating Hayao Miyazaki.

The Academy Museum comes from the same organization behind the Academy Awards, and will honor the "past, present, and future" of cinema. The Hayao Miyazaki exhibit will be among the first of many temporary installations at the museum. The Japanese writer/director co-founded the animation production house Studio Ghibli in 1985, and has gone on to direct such classics as My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Princess Mononoke (1997), and Spirited Away (2001).

The retrospective will trace Miyazaki's career through more than 300 artifacts, including original storyboards, cels, and character designs. The installation is split into seven immersive sections that highlight the filmmaker's characters, worlds, and themes. Created in collaboration with Studio Ghibli, it's set to be the first-ever retrospective of Miyazaki's work displayed in North America.

Miyazaki's body of work is just one part of movie history that will be examined at the museum. The rest of the museum will look at cinema from its inception in the late 19th century through today, highlighting artists like Bruce Lee and films like The Wizard of Oz (1939) and The Matrix (1999). The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is scheduled to open with a gala on April 30—five days after the 2021 Academy Awards, which are now planned for April 25, 2021.

[h/t Deadline]