http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/page1/3209418
The Houston Museum of Natural Science’s staging of the Lord of the Rings exhibit may stretch the boundaries of its science-education mission, but it fits a growing trend. More museums are booking high-profile pop-culture programs that push ticket sales.
The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy: The Exhibition, which opens at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, is expected to pull in record attendance during its two-month stay. Blocks away, Grand Slam Summer, a series of baseball-related exhibits, is drawing crowds at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Since its opening in New Zealand two years ago, more than 800,000 people have seen The Lord of the Rings exhibit that has toured London, Singapore and Boston. At London’s Science Museum, it broke museum records, attracting 260,000 people in less than four months — more than its James Bond and Titanic exhibits combined, said Paul Brewer of New Zealand’s national museum.
The $1.9 million exhibit is expected to bring in even higher attendance than the touring Star Wars exhibition.
Hmmm… this definitely would be worth going to see…