Merlin Entertainments Group is to unveil a US$55m (£27.6m, AUD$56.4m, 37.4m euro) Madame Tussauds wax museum in Hollywood, USA, next spring.

The three-storey, 40,000sq ft property has been designed by Michael Rotondi of JAG/RoTo Architects and will be the ninth museum in the Madame Tussauds worldwide portfolio. It will be located on Hollywood Boulevard and Orange Drive and is the first time a new-build property has been specifically created for a Madame Tussauds museum.

A further Madame Tussauds opened this month in Berlin, Germany. Designed by London-based studio am, the 10.5m euro (US$16.7m, AUD$17m, £8.4m) 2,500sq m (26,910sq ft) museum is located on Unter den Linden Boulevard.

The attraction has nine zones and features wax works of leading German public figures, including tennis star Boris Becker, pop star Herbert Groenemeyer and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Figures of international celebrities are also on display, and visitors have the opportunity to look behind the scenes at how the figures are constructed.

Madame Tussauds' owner, Merlin Entertainments, is reportedly looking to list on the London Stock Exchange and chief executive Nick Varney has suggested a floatation could take place sometime during 2009.