Matt Damon And The Met Prepare For "The Monuments Men" Release

The Monuments Men, the film that is predicted to keep the box office afloat during the generally slow month of February, is out in cinemas tomorrow. With an all-star cast, including Matt Damon, George Clooney, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett and Bill Murray among others, the Clooney-directed film tells the story of a special platoon, created during WWII at the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to rescue culturally important artwork from the Nazis. It’s based on a true story and a very new and different kind of war film.

The Monuments Men marks Clooney's fifth time in the director's chair.

Timed to match the movie’s release, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is hosting a series of events, online and off, based on the heroic work of the Monuments Men during World War II and their lasting impact on the Museum and its collection. The programme features a new gallery itinerary, display, a blog post and Sunday at the Metlecture event, Broadway World reports. The role of James J. Rorimer, a Monuments Man who became the Met's director after the war, is highlighted. Several individuals on the staff of the Metropolitan Museum-some of whom joined the Museum after the war-served as Monuments Men.

Check out the trailer below.

Meanwhile, in preparation for the film’s release, Matt Damon, gave an interview with Screen Rant, in which he expanded on the plot, his relationship with his fellow actors and the feeling of putting on a WWII uniform to star in yet another war film – this time with a twist.

“I think it’s an amazing story,” Damon said. “It’s kind of perfectly set up for a movie. It’s guys who are past their prime – certainly in soldiering terms – dropping everything, these art experts going to the front, going through basic training, and going to the front to try and save kind of our most important cultural artifacts. You know, and guys who really believed that those were worth dying for, if need be, that they don’t belong to anyone and they belong to all of us and they need to be preserved at all costs.”

Damon was intrigued by the story.