George Lucas has previewed the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, describing the 17-year effort to bring it to life alongside his wife Mellody Hobson as one that "almost broke my will." The museum, which opens to the public on 22 September, sits next to the LA Memorial Coliseum and is intended to celebrate storytelling through illustration, a subject Lucas says he feels strongly about because it combines powerful imagery with powerful stories to shape culture.

The 300,000 sq ft, spaceship-like building was designed by Ma Yansong of MAD with Stantec, with landscape architecture by Mia Lehrer. It houses more than 30 galleries, including one filled with life-sized props and costumes from the "Star Wars" films, alongside Lucas's wider art collection featuring Norman Rockwell, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Maxfield Parrish and Frank Frazetta, as well as photography, comic book art and Western art and sculpture.