LOS ANGELES — “Star Wars” filmmaker George Lucas’ dream came to fruition in Los Angeles on Tuesday as the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opened to the public.
Founded by Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson, the 300,000-square-foot facility “celebrates the power of storytelling,” according to its website.
The museum houses comic book art, paintings and film memorabilia, KTLA reported.
Lucas spent more than two decades searching for a home for his narrative art museum, facing rejections and lawsuits in San Francisco and Chicago before turning decisively to Los Angeles. https://t.co/4ElAR7HMe7
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) September 22, 2026
Lucas and Hobson hosted a star-studded kickoff event on Saturday to celebrate a dream that was 17 years in the making, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The couple poured more than $1 billion into the museum, which, not surprisingly, contains “Star Wars” props, along with artwork from Norman Rockwell and Frida Kahlo.
What is surprising is that “Star Wars” artifacts make up only about 7% of the museum’s gallery space, KTLA reported.
Hobson told the television station that the museum began with Lucas “aspiring to have a building so unique that 8-year-olds and 80-year-olds would equally want to come inside.”
Los Angeles became home to Lucas’ museum when city officials promised him something that other candidates -- including Chicago and San Francisco -- could not, the Los Angeles Times reported. The promise -- that he could actually build the facility.
The promise came after years of rejected proposals and litigation frustrated Lucas’ efforts, according to the newspaper.
According to the museum’s website, Lucas began his collection while attending college, “when the only art he could afford was original comic art for $30.”
Over the next half-century, Lucas would accumulate more than 40,000 works.
“I could never sell my art,” Lucas said. “It just is not what I think art is. I think it’s more about an emotional connection with the work, not how much it cost.”
Lucas said it took him so long to make the museum a reality because he was “a contrarian.”
“I don’t like to do things that people think can be done,” Lucas told “Good Morning America.” “I’m fascinated by doing things that people say can’t be done.
“And even when you do it, they say, ‘Well that’s not any good. You can’t do that,’ and all that sort of thing.”
At the opening, Lucas told the audience that “art is in the eye of the beholder,” according to “Good Morning America.”
“If it’s emotional to you, then it’s art,” Lucas said. “Of course I’ve been criticized up and down sideways for that, but I believe that. Wholeheartedly. That you get to decide what art is.”
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