Want to visit the Academy Museum in September? $25 gets you in the door

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures opens its doors to the public in late September — so adult visitors, have $25 at the ready.

The L.A. museum announced ticketing information Wednesday. Advance reservations for timed tickets may be made on the museum’s website or via its app starting Aug. 5 at 9 a.m. Pacific. (The app launches Aug. 3.) Seniors may visit for $19; students $15. Museum members and visitors under age 17 may enter for free.

By way of comparison, adult general admission to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art next door is $20 for L.A. County residents. Adult general admission at the Peterson Automotive Museum, directly across the street from the Academy Museum, is $16.

The $482-million Renzo Piano-designed Academy Museum, which calls itself the “largest institution in the United States devoted to exploring the art and science of movies and moviemaking,” will debut with the core exhibition “Stories of Cinema” about the film industry’s myriad narratives.

The museum’s collection of more than 8,000 objects, along with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ library and archives, includes original scripts, costumes and props — including the ruby red slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” — as well as production design drawings, photographs, posters and films.

The inaugural special exhibition is a retrospective of Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki.

“Path to Cinema: Highlights From the Richard Balzer Collection” will explore pre-cinema “optical amusements and devices of wonder” dating back to the 17th century, including zoetropes, praxinoscopes and the Cinématographe Lumière.

“Backdrop: An Invisible Art,” in a two-story gallery, showcases the Mt. Rushmore backdrop from Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest.”

“I know everyone involved in developing and opening the Academy Museum shares in my tremendous excitement at finally being able to invite the community in to explore our exhibitions and programs,” museum Director Bill Kramer said in a statement.

“We are deeply grateful to all of our supporters who helped to bring us to this milestone and to the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation, whose support in honor of Academy Museum Honorary Trustee Sid Ganis, has made it possible for us to offer free admission to visitors 17 and under.”

A separate exhibition, in which visitors walk through an immersive experience simulating their accepting an Oscar onstage, carries an additional $15 ticket. However, a multiscreen video installation, in the lobby-level Spielberg Family Gallery, will be free without a general-admission ticket.

When it opens Sept. 30, the museum will follow the latest COVID-19 public health guidelines. It will be open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.