The force is officially strong with Los Angeles.
Breathtaking new flyover footage has revealed a majestic outside look at the highly anticipated Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in LA’s Exposition Park, sending social media into a frenzy ahead of its official opening date.
The $1 billion project, co-founded by legendary Star Wars filmmaker George Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson, has locked in a grand opening date of September 22, 2026.
Footage posted by Trung Phan on X showcases the museum’s futuristic architecture designed by Ma Yansong of MAD architects. Looking less like a traditional building and more like a massive, sleek starship that just touched down in Southern California.
The sweeping video reveals the museum’s flowing, organic design, curved white exterior and sprawling landscaped grounds. Rejecting sharp lines and right angles, the space was inspired by shifting clouds, tree canopies and a cinematic spacecraft. The facade was built using more than 1,500 unique molded fiberglass-reinforced polymer panels.
The 300,000-square-foot museum sits on 11 acres in Exposition Park and will showcase everything from comics and manga to children’s book illustrations and fine art.
It will open with roughly 20 inaugural exhibitions spread across more than 30 galleries, according to the Los Angeles Times. In addition to gallery space, there will be theaters, learning studios, a library, restaurant and cafe inside.
Its vast collection stretches across more than 100,000 square feet of gallery space, showcasing over 1,200 treasures selected from a founding collection of more than 40,000 works.
Die-hard fans of the blockbuster saga can lose themselves among vehicle designs, high-speed racers, soaring ships, props, costumes, and illustrations from the first six “Star Wars” films in the aptly titled exhibition “Star Wars in Motion.”
The showcase will feature Luke Skywalker’s Landspeeder from “Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope” and the first physical build of General Grievous’ wheel bike from “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith.”
Other opening exhibitions will explore themes like family, community, work, politics, and adventure, spotlighting artists Norman Rockwell, Frank Frazetta, Maxfield Parrish, Thomas Hart Benton, and N.C. Wyeth.
A museum news release said the exhibitions “trace the evolution of human culture through storytelling, from ancient sculptures of gods and goddesses to Renaissance paintings to photographs, comics and modern cinema.”
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