From Spider-Man to Uzbekistan: Six Years of New Faces at a Wax Museum

Spider-Man is back at the centre of the summer movie conversation.

By August 30, 2026, Spider-Man: Brand New Day had led the North American box office for five consecutive weekends. Audience enthusiasm was strong too: as of September 4, the film held a 97% verified audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Tom Holland’s Peter Parker was once again drawing fans into cinemas. 

In Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, that familiar face also appears inside Yulduzlar Muzeyi, a celebrity wax museum.

Fine skin texture, individually implanted hair and the subtle shape of the mouth give Holland’s likeness a three-dimensional form that visitors can view up close. For fans who have just seen the film, recognizing the actor in the gallery adds another familiar connection to the visit.

The new film gives this existing figure a timely talking point. Behind it is a custom production partnership spanning six years. Its story begins in 2019, with the museum’s first collection.

In 2019, Grand Orient Wax Art (DXDF) delivered the first custom wax figures for AKFA Group’s celebrity wax museum project in Tashkent.

Covering more than 1,000 m², the venue brought Uzbek cultural figures and international celebrities into one exhibition space. Writers, poets, musicians and historical personalities appeared alongside film actors and sports stars in the opening collection.

The relationship continued after the initial delivery. As the museum operated, new commissions followed each year, gradually extending the list of figures.

Over the six-year collaboration, the opening collection developed into a programme of annual additions. The same museum gained new faces at successive stages of its development, while the production team returned to the project to prepare the next personality’s pose, clothing and details.

For film fans who recognize him, Tom Holland offers a familiar way into the exhibition. International actors and athletes also give visitors from different backgrounds a chance to encounter personalities they know.

The Uzbek writers, poets, musicians and historical figures bring the story closer to the country itself.

For local visitors, these personalities may connect with books they have read, music they have heard or history they know. For international guests, they offer a starting point for discovering Uzbek culture.

Together, the two groups give the museum its particular character. A visitor can begin with a familiar international star and continue through the gallery to learn about local cultural figures, combining the familiarity of popular culture with the discovery of stories rooted in Uzbekistan.

As the collection grows, there is room for further stories. Who joins the exhibition, where they are placed and how they relate to nearby figures all help shape the gallery’s next chapter.

Recognizing someone may take a visitor only a moment. Creating that face as a three-dimensional exhibit takes a sequence of production stages.

The museum’s Tom Holland wax figure is made using lifelike silicone techniques. Figure production encompasses 3D modelling, hand-sculpted clay work, mould making, silicone casting, colouring, hair implantation and hairstyling. Clothing and props complete the portrayal.

Skin texture, hair density and facial expression are details visitors can observe up close. The shape of the mouth and the outline of the hairstyle each contribute to the person they recognize.

That attention needs to extend across the whole figure. Facial expression and body pose should work together, while clothing and props should match the intended portrayal. These elements combine to give the finished figure a coherent character.

For a museum that continues to commission new figures, each new face means applying this craft to a different individual.

Annual additions bring the partnership back to the practical work of making and delivering figures.

Each new subject has different facial features, a different pose and particular clothing or prop requirements. The finished piece also needs to fit the existing collection and the available exhibition space. Every commission therefore involves both the individual character and the gallery around it.

International delivery connects the production team with the venue. Packing, transport, customs clearance and arrangements for positioning and display all influence how a finished figure makes its journey from the workshop to the exhibition.

The six-year collaboration was built through this continuing work. The initial collection supplied the figures needed for opening, while subsequent commissions added further content to the museum. For the production team, this meant continuing its service alongside the venue’s programme of updates.

Now, Spider-Man: Brand New Day has brought renewed attention to Holland and offers another way into the museum’s story. Following the story behind his figure reveals how one venue welcomed more personalities over six years of collaboration.

Founded in 1999, Grand Orient Wax Art has 25+ years of experience and an 11,000+ m² factory. If you are developing a wax museum or introducing new figures to an existing gallery, bring us your venue concept and proposed personalities to discuss the next collection.