The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has received a $20 million gift for its new museum from China's Dalian Wanda Group, it was announced Tuesday.
The gift, the second-largest commitment received to date, was made as part of the Academy Museum’s $300 million campaign. The Academy will name the museum’s film history gallery The Wanda Gallery.
The Academy Museum, slated to open in early 2017, will be located next to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in the Wilshire May Company building and is designed by architects Renzo Piano and Zoltan Pali. The space will contain nearly 300,000 square feet of state-of-the-art galleries, exhibition spaces, theaters, screening rooms, education centers and special event spaces.
The Academy already has secured more than half of the campaign’s goal in commitments. Annette Bening and Tom Hanks are co-chairing the campaign.
The Dalian Wanda Group, founded in 1988, is a Chinese conglomerate that owns and operates U.S.-based AMC Entertainment, along with a wide range of businesses in China, including commercial properties, luxury hotels and cinemas.
As part of a larger partnership with the Dalian Wanda Group, the Academy will extend its global programming reach and advise the Dalian Wanda Group on film screenings and symposia in China.
"The Academy is deeply committed to promoting and encouraging the creation and exploration of movies around the globe,” said Dawn Hudson, the Academy's CEO. “Our partnership with the Dalian Wanda Group will help the Academy reach a vast new moviegoing audience in China.”