As mentioned before in COAA, the Academy Museum is being built at the corner of Fairfax and Wilshire and as of the past few months construction has noticeably taken on an air of urgency. It won’t be long before the former storage facility for LACMA and onetime department store will be fully transformed into a place that holds Dorothy’s slippers (already guaranteed), the shark from Jaws (a complete guess here) and Robert DeNiro’s wardrobe from Casino (I’d just like to see it), and other cinematic stuff like that.

The focal point of this complex will no doubt be the giant orb movie theatre at the rear, which will be home to many a high-caliber film premieres. Of course, this place won’t be accessible to the mere public on big-event nights but when the limos aren’t lining up on Fairfax and the klieg lights aren’t shining aloft for the likes of Hollywood’s current elite, maybe regular citizens of L.A. and visitors to LACMA’s Urban Lights and the nearby Giant Rock will be able to explore the space too.

In paying tribute to all that is Hollywood, it feels right that the current status of the dome looks remarkably similar to the mega-fortress of Darth Vader – perhaps when Darth was still building his ultimate planet destroyer and the stormtroopers were still in basic training.

And speaking of storm troopers, though we haven’t ascertained the location of the new museum’s gift shop, we’re almost sure you’ll able to buy some variation of them before exiting. And who knows, maybe they’ll even have a few lightsabers for sale too.