The Smurfs are headed to San Francisco Fisherman’s Wharf.
A “Smurfs: The Adventure” attraction will temporarily occupy three floors and 27,000 square feet of the former Madam Tussauds wax museum at 145 Jefferson Street, the San Francisco Business Times reported. The interactive exhibit is slated to open in May.
Less clear is the deal that Los Angeles-based See Global Entertainment made with building owner Fong Real Estate.
If there was a lease arrangement between See and Fong for a series of permanent rotating exhibits starting with the Smurfs, it went unmentioned. Terms of a deal were not undisclosed.
“The internationally beloved brand of The Smurfs is a moment of blue fun for locals and visitors to San Francisco,” Rodney Fong, president of the building’s owner, Fong Real Estate, and CEO of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, told the Business Times.
“In addition to this Smurf Blue Wave of joy, our partnership with See Global Entertainment promises to lift the economic hopes and realities of all our Fisherman’s Wharf businesses.”
The Smurfs and other future interactive exhibits are expected to draw more foot traffic to Fisherman’s Wharf.
See Global aims to host rotating ticketed exhibits from its portfolio, which has included so-called “mobile theme parks” based on Star Trek, Titanic and the Sistine Chapel.
Its first installation will celebrate the famous tiny, blue-hued village dwellers of comic and cartoon lore. The debut will also promote a new film, “The Smurfs Movie,” to be released next year and featuring original music and voice acting from pop superstar Rihanna.
“Smurfs: The Adventure” will feature 10 interactive experiences based on characters such as Papa Smurf, spinning off from a re-creation of the Smurfs Village that rotates through 90-minute cycles of day and night.
Other elements include a bioluminescent tunnel, mushroom-shaped drums, Smurf-themed vehicles, puzzles and games.
General tickets will run from $26 to $39 and go on sale in late February. VIP tickets are now on sale for $120 and come with front-of-the-line privileges, a “Smurfs: The Adventure” t-shirt and exclusive screening of “The Smurfs Movie.” A timeline for the exhibit was not disclosed.
Fong, a fourth-generation San Franciscan whose great-grandmother was born in the city in 1898, once served on the San Francisco port and planning commissions. Fong Real Estate, founded in 1997, owns the 100,000-square-foot Wax Museum complex, according to his LinkedIn page.
— Dana Bartholomew
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