LAS VEGAS — A new attraction in downtown Las Vegas wants guests to bask in movie magic through a gallery of iconic props including a James Bond American Express card, “Predator” weapons and a hat worn by Johnny Depp in “Alice Through the Looking Glass.”
The Movie Prop Experience, within the Neonopolis complex at the Fremont Street Experience, welcomed invited guests and media to a preview last week of its rotating collection ahead of its opening to the general public this week.
The museum-like venue lets customers get up close to props used in major films, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The items are as small as a golden snitch from the “Harry Potter” series used in the game of Quidditch and as large as a towering extraterrestrial from the “Alien” franchise.
Other displays include movie scripts — including one for the Bond film “Casino Royale” and another for Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” — as well as “Spider Man” costumes and props from “Gremlins” and “Ironman.”
Co-owners Aaron Kybartas and Tiana Armstrong got the idea for a public space to view movie props from their collection business Hero Prop, which sells and acquires film items.
“We found that a lot of pieces were coming and going and were going into private collections,” Kybartas said. “We thought this needs to be out for the general public, because it’s a shame to see a lot of pieces get squirreled away.”
Additions to the 3,200-square-foot (297-square-metre) space are coming in the next week and beyond.
Armstrong said the team has even more pieces in storage — some were even too big to fit through the door, including “Fast and Furious” cars and a pyramid from the science fiction movie “Stargate.”
General Manager Doug Stewart hopes it will be place where guests can marvel at an unsung side of film production. Props often take many hours to complete, only to get on- and off-screen in a flash.
“The people who make these things never really get recognized,” Stewart said. “And so much work goes into everything you see, you cannot imagine it. A lot of them get thrown away, so this is sort of celebrating that side of moviemaking. There’s so many people involved in this, and we can’t list them all.”
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony ahead of the unveiling that the attraction is a great addition to downtown Las Vegas and Neonopolis.
“(Developer and owner Rohit) Joshi worked so hard to make everything work here and be a place where everybody who drives into town or flies into town wants to come down to Neonopolis,” she said. “It’s forever changing.”
The Movie Prop Experience will be open from noon to midnight daily beginning on an undetermined day this week, the owners said. Adult admission is $28, with lower prices expected for children, military members and first responders.
The Associated Press
