Over the last few years, across the UK, museums and cultural venues that rely predominantly on low entry fees, event tickets, and donations have suffered a great deal. Without the usual foot traffic for a large portion of 2020 and into 2021, there’s now a big focus on getting back to 123 of the Cultural Investment Fund have been given a shared pot of £58.5 million across the country. The 70-odd cultural organisations that received a portion of the grant were, naturally, very grateful, but the onus is still on these venues to recover visitor figures themselves. Being one of the most famous in the UK, the Natural 123 2023, the Natural History Museum will boast another colossal prehistoric animal, but this one dwarfs even the famous diplodocus skeleton. A titanosaur – specifically, a Patagotitan mayorum – will call the Natural History Museum its home until 7 January 2024. However, it won’t simply stand where Dippy once did. Instead, the museum will host a dedicated display in the Waterhouse Gallery, which will cost £16 per ticket. The museum reports it as being 12 metres longer than the famous blue whale skeleton, which clocks in at 25.2 metres.
However, the blue whale does remain the largest animal to be on display at the Natural History Museum as it’s still the largest creature ever known to be on the planet. This comes down to weight, with the titanosaur estimated to weigh up to 60 tonnes, while blue whales can grow to up to nearly 200 tonnes. In fact, average blue whales recorded in the Northern Hemisphere hit around 108 tonnes. Regardless, the new titanosaur display will further fuel the national obsession with dinosaurs, from new 123 being set up in Basford. It was only on 20 March 2023 that 123 earned billions in their latest box-office runs. There are many games and even themed slots based on the franchises. The latest additions to this line of entertainment, Jurassic Park Gold and Jurassic World Raptor Riches, are staples of top games and trending games pages.
While the British public has been very receptive to the recent spike in prehistoric documentaries, particularly Sir David Attenborough’s The Final Day and even Apple’s Prehistoric Planet – which sought to emulate the impact of the BBC’s 1999 documentary Walking with Dinosaurs – the latest dino-centric cinematic release didn’t exactly roar into action. The movie 65, starring Adam Driver, is said to have only made $20.8 million worldwide, with the terrible release date mostly pointed to as the blame. BFI figures say that 65 made £1.2 million in its opening 1 in the UK, with big-hitters Scream VI and Creed III – in their first and second weeks – ahead.
Still, the relative flop of 65 shouldn’t be taken as a lack of interest in the theme. The UK continues to show its interest in prehistoric life across entertainment and cultural venues. As such, the slight gamble of housing and setting up the massive titanosaur display should pay off for the Natural History Museum and be quite the earner.
