China's Dalian Wanda Group donates $20m to AMPAS museum

LOS ANGELES -- Chinese firm Dalian Wanda Group has donated $20 million as a gift to a museum affiliated with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The sum is the second largest commitment the Academy Museum has ever received, the institution said in a statement on Tuesday. The Academy will name the museum's film history gallery The Wanda Gallery in recognition of the move.

"The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is a global cultural institution and the Dalian Wanda Group's support of the project speaks to the worldwide importance and appeal of the movies," said Academy Museum Campaign Chair Bob Iger. "Their gift to the Academy Museum is a huge boost to our efforts to design and build the world's leading movie museum."

The gift contributes to the Academy Museum's $300 million fundraising campaign which aims at construction of a 300,000- square-feet (27,871 square meters) movie museum. It features state-of-the-art galleries, exhibition spaces, theaters, screening rooms, education centers and special event spaces. Located in Los Angeles, the museum is slated to inaugurate in early 2017.

The Academy will also extend its global programming reach and advise the Dalian Wanda Group on film screenings and symposia in China as both sides strengthen their partnership, the Academy said.