Joint film museum dropped

The pin has officially been pulled on a joint convention centre and Sir Peter Jackson movie museum in Wellington.

Yesterday, the film director’s company, The Movie Museum Ltd (TMML) and Wellington City Council jointly announced the ‘‘mutually agreed parting of the ways’’ for the venture that was revealed in 2015.

However, Jackson said he was not ruling out a capital-based museum in the future and was considering other options.

In a joint statement, Jackson, Fran Walsh, Sir Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger said the economics of the Cable St location proved to be challenging for the movie museum.

The project was first budgeted to cost $134 million, then increased to $165m but Wellington Mayor Justin Lester said the envelope of money was closer to $180m.

The plan was left floundering after a letter from Jackson in December, when he raised concerns that the city council was ‘‘reneging’’ on its contract.

This was followed by a series of last-ditch meetings between the parties that set the project in a holding pattern.

A signed pact between both groups said the council would pay for the new building, while TMML would fund the museum’s fitout. This would feature Jackson’s extensive collection of movie memorabilia.

Who would pay for the fitout was understood to be a bone of contention between the parties, with the council expected to cover 90 per cent of the overall cost.

Lester said it had become apparent that Wellingtonians would be better served with the movie museum and the convention centre as two separate assets.

He was pleased TMML had committed to a movie museum for Wellington and looked forward to its vision being realised.

The council would now move forward with the convention centre plan, replacing the movie museum with a 1500 square metre exhibition space that looks set to be run in partnership with Te Papa.

Exhibition spaces around the world were undergoing a renaissance and the council expected it to be a revenue earner – on par with the movie museum estimates, he said.

The area would be able to accommodate large, internationally significant exhibitions and draw in visitors from around Wellington, New Zealand and the globe.

The council expects to lodge a resource consent soon and is gearing up for a sod-turning in 2019.