Madame Tussaud’s a new rival to Hollywood’s wax icon

Published 7:32 pm Friday, August 7, 2009

HOLLYWOOD — A wax war is heating up on Hollywood Boulevard.

For 44 years, the Hollywood Wax Museum has been Tinseltown’s only wax attraction featuring celebrities, a monopoly that has kept it open through wars, recessions and riots.

But that is changing with the opening of Madame Tussaud’s, Hollywood Boulevard’s newest multimillion-dollar attraction.

The 40,000-square-foot building officially opened to the public Aug. 1, with 115 wax figures, including representations of President Barack Obama, Samuel L. Jackson and Marilyn Monroe.

Representatives of both play down a rivalry, saying there are enough tourists to support both businesses. But some area merchants and observers wonder whether this town is big enough for two wax museums.

At Madame Tussaud’s Hollywood, General Manager Adrian Jones says, “We are not a wax museum. We are an attraction. I don’t want us to be mentioned in the same breath as a wax museum.”

Down the road at the Hollywood Wax Museum, Tej Sundher, a partner at Kuvera Partners, the Los Angeles company that owns the attraction, acknowledges that his business may take a hit.

The new kid in town appears to have a few advantages.

First, Madame Tussaud’s Hollywood has a location advantage, adjacent to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, a Hollywood tourist attraction that draws about 4 million visitors a year.

Second, the figures in Madame Tussaud’s — many estimated to be worth as much as $300,000 each — were created by London artists. Most of the celebrities represented — including Elton John, Beyonce Knowles and Will Smith — posed for their wax doubles. Visitors are encouraged to interact with the figures. Tourists can ride a bicycle alongside a Lance Armstrong figure or sing karaoke while a wax depiction of “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell scowls. After the song ends, a recording of the real Cowell announces, “That was my favorite song of all time … not anymore.”

In contrast, Some of the figures at Hollywood Wax Museum are more than 40 years old and showing their age.

This year, the museum sold about 200 aging figures, including depictions of the cast of the 1970s television show “MASH” and Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn from the 1961 movie “The Guns of Navarone.” The museum still has 146 figures on display, all portraying a scene from a television show or movie.

The old museum plans to add new creations, such as scenes from the films “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and “Transformers.”

The Hollywood Wax Museum also is expanding its business to include a booth where tourists can get their photo taken on a replica of a star from the Hollywood Walk of Fame. With the help of digital technology, the visitor’s name appears on the star.