Night at the Museum

Night at the Museum
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Shawn Levy
Produced by
Screenplay by
Based on The Night at the Museum
by Milan Trenc
Starring
Music by Alan Silvestri
Cinematography Guillermo Navarro
Edited by Don Zimmerman
Production
company
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date
  • December 17, 2006 (2006-12-17) (New York City)
  • December 22, 2006 (2006-12-22) (United States)
Running time
 108 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $110 million
Box office $574.5 million[1]

Night at the Museum is a 2006 American fantasy-comedy film directed by Shawn Levy and written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, based on the 1993 children's book of the same name by Croatian illustrator Milan Trenc. The film stars Ben Stiller as Larry Daley, a divorced father who applies for a job as a night watchman at New York City's American Museum of Natural History and subsequently discovers that the exhibits, animated by a magical Egyptian artifact, come to life at night.

It was released on December 22, 2006 by 20th Century Fox. The first installment in the Night at the Museum trilogy, the film was a box office success despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, grossing over $574 million.

Plot

Larry Daley is a divorced man from Brooklyn, hoping to find a good job to impress his ten-year-old son Nick, but his ex-wife Erica believes he is a bad example for their son. Larry is hired at the American Museum of Natural History to replace the retiring security guards Cecil Fredericks, Gus, and Reginald. Larry meets the museum's neurotic curator Dr. McPhee, and very attractive museum docent Rebecca Hutman, who plans to write a dissertation on Sacagawea. On his first night, Cecil hands Larry an instruction manual on what to do in the museum, warning him not to let anything "in or out."

Larry soon discovers that at night, the museum's exhibits come to life and cause havoc for him. Amongst the lively exhibits are a playful Tyrannosaurus skeleton named Rexy; a mischievous capuchin monkey named Dexter who destroys the instructions; the warring miniature factions of cowboys and legionnaires led by Jedediah and General Octavius; violent Attila the Hun and his army; a talking Easter Island Head that desires gum who calls Larry "dum dum"; the fire-seeking neanderthals; and a wax model of Theodore Roosevelt, who is in love with Sacagawea.

Roosevelt explains to Larry that the exhibits have come to life every night since the arrival of an Egyptian artifact, the Tablet of Akhmenrah, the mummified pharaoh trapped in his sarcophagus. He also explains to Larry that as night guard, it is his job to make sure that no exhibit sets foot out of the museum, otherwise they will disintegrate into dust if the sun rises while they are outside. The next day, Cecil advises Larry to research history to make up for the instructions' destruction. He studies in libraries and from Rebecca. Larry puts his new knowledge to good use on his second night, but some of his plans backfire and the neanderthals set their exhibit on fire, leading to one becoming dust after venturing outside. After having doubts and almost getting fired the next day, Larry offers to introduce Sacagawea to Rebecca, but she thinks he is mocking her.

On his third night, Larry brings Nick to the museum to watch the exhibits come to life, but they strangely do not. They catch Cecil, Gus, and Reginald stealing artifacts, who explain the tablet's magic has allowed them to feel physically young in their old age, and plot to frame Larry for the theft while they enjoy a happy retirement. Nick activates the tablet, but Cecil steals it, locking Larry and Nick in the Egyptian exhibit. They free Akhmenrah, and rally the exhibits to stop the thieves and retrieve their colleagues who fled out into Central Park. Gus and Reginald are captured, but Cecil escapes by stagecoach.

Larry and several exhibits give chase, where they stop Cecil and recover the tablet, using its magic to escort all of the exhibits back into the museum before sunrise. Rebecca witnesses this and makes amends with Larry and is subsequently introduced to Sacagawea. The next day, McPhee fires Larry after watching news reports of sightings of the exhibits last night, but once they start to leave the museum, they find out that the reports have caused an increased number of visitors, and Larry is immediately rehired. Near the end of the film, Larry, Nick, and the exhibits throw a party in the museum. During the credits, it is shown that Cecil, Gus, and Reginald have been forced to serve as museum janitors for their crimes.

Cast

Humans

Exhibits

Production

The building featured in the film, which was constructed on a sound stage in Burnaby, British Columbia, is based on the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, external shots of which were used in the movie.[2]

Trainers spent several weeks training Crystal, who plays the troublemaking monkey Dexter, to slap and bite Stiller in the film.

Robin Williams' Theodore Roosevelt costume closely resembles that of John Wayne's character in The Shootist.[3]

Director Shawn Levy credited Ben Stiller for the ensemble cast: "When actors hear that Ben Stiller is in a movie they want to work with him. It['s] a high-water mark and it absolutely draws actors in and I'm convinced that's a big part of why we got this cast."[4]

Music

Songs

Ben Stiller claimed that he watched Tom Cruise in the Mission: Impossible films to learn how to imitate his running technique, shown here as Stiller portraying his film character running for dear life from the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton (Rexy).[4]
  • "Friday Night" - performed by McFly; not featured in American version of the film, but heard in some international cuts, used during the end credits. It can be heard on the American DVD on the Spanish dub.
  • "September" - performed by Earth, Wind and Fire; used before the end credits where everyone in the museum is partying.
  • "Weapon of Choice" - performed by Fatboy Slim; used in the scene where Larry returns to the museum for his second night and is preparing for the chaos.
  • "Tonight" - performed by Keke Palmer and Cham; used for the end credits.
  • "Eye of the Tiger" - performed by Ben Stiller; used in the scene where Larry is bored and messes around with the telephone at the front desk beatboxing the music.
  • An instrumental version of "Mandy" by Barry Manilow is used when Larry is standing in the elevator, while escaping from Attila the Hun.
  • "Ezekiel Saw Them Dry Bones" is the tune Larry whistles as he passes the empty T. rex exhibit on his first night.
  • "Camptown Races" by Stephen Foster is sung by the townspeople of the American West miniature diorama. This is a period-correct song.

Score

Alan Silvestri replaced John Ottman as score composer.[5] Silvestri's score was used for the teaser trailer of Horton Hears a Who!

Night at the Museum (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film score by Alan Silvestri
Released December 19, 2006 (2006-12-19)
Recorded 2006
Genre Film score
Length 53:19
Label Varèse Sarabande

Track list

Varèse Sarabande released a soundtrack album of the score on December 19, 2006.[6]

All tracks written by Alan Silvestri.

Night at the Museum (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
No.TitleLength
1."Night at the Museum"02:35
2."One of Those Days"00:49
3."An Ordinary Guy?"01:27
4."Tour of the Museum"02:35
5."Civil War Soldiers"04:08
6."Out of Africa"01:07
7."Meet Dexter"01:27
8."Mayan Warriors"00:57
9."Where's Rexy?"00:48
10."West from Africa"01:49
11."The Iron Horse"01:06
12."Saved by Teddy"01:57
13."Tablet of Akmenrah"00:37
14."Tracking, Dear Boy"01:08
15."Some Men Are Born Great"00:50
16."Sunrise"00:42
17."Study Up on History"02:15
18."Teddy Likes Sacagawea"01:53
19."Tearing Limbs"01:45
20."Caveman on Fire"00:43
21."Outrun the Sun"00:58
22."Show You What I Do"02:55
23."Tablet's Gone"02:45
24."Theodore Roosevelt at Your Service"01:11
25."This Is Your Moment"02:10
26."Rally the Troops"01:07
27."Tree Take Down"01:21
28."Cecil's Escape"01:26
29."Stage Coach"02:28
30."Teddy in Two"01:18
31."Cab Ride"00:50
32."Big Fan"01:03
33."Heroes Return"00:54
34."A Great Man"00:57
35."Full House"01:21
Total length:53:19

Release

Night at the Museum had its premiere in New York City on December 17 2006, on December 22, 2006 in the United States, December 26, 2006 in UK, January 12, 2007 in Brazil, on February 14, 2007 in China and on March 17, 2007 in Japan.[7]

The film was released under the title of "Noche en el museo" in Spain, "Una note al museo" in Italy, "La nuit au musée" in France, "Ночь в музее" in Russia and "Uma Noite no Museu" in Brazil.[7]

Box office

At the end of its box office run, Night at the Museum earned a gross of $250.9 million in the US and Canada and $323.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $574.5 million against a budget of $110 million.[1] It is the fifth highest-grossing film of 2006 and also the highest-grossing film worldwide of the trilogy.[8]

It was the highest-grossing film in its opening weekend, grossing $30.8 million plating in 3,686 theaters, with a $8,258 per-theater average. For the four-day Christmas holiday weekend, it took in $42.2 million.[1] The movie was also released in IMAX large screen format, often on site at museums of science or natural history such as the Pacific Science Center in Seattle.

In its second weekend, Night at the Museum expanded into 83 more theaters and took in approximately $36.7 million, out-grossing its opening weekend. It maintained the top position in its third week, with an additional $23.7 million.[9]

During its opening weekend of December 15, 2006, the film grossed a figure of estimated $5 million, with the highest debut coming from South Korea ($5.04 million).[10] The biggest market in the other territories were the UK, Japan, South Korea, and Germany, where it grossed $40.8 million, $30 million, $25.7 million, $22.9 million.[11]

Critical reaction

Night at the Museum received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 43%, based on 132 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Parents might call this either a spectacle-filled adventure or a shallow and vapid CG-fest, depending on whether they choose to embrace this on the same level as their kids".[12] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 48 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[13]

James Berardinelli of Reelviews gave it 2 stars out of 4, and commented on Stiller's performance by stating "It might be fair to give Ben Stiller an 'A' for effort, but to call what he does in this movie "acting" is a misnomer. He does a lot of running around, occasionally falling down or bumping into things."[14] One positive review by William Arnold of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, gave it a B-, and stated that the film was "Out to impress and delight a family audience with the pageantry of human and natural history, and that's a surprisingly worthy ambition for a Hollywood comedy."[15] In a case of life imitating art, museum officials at the American Museum of Natural History have credited the film for increasing the number of visitors during the holiday season by almost 20%. According to a museum official, between December 22, 2006, and January 2, 2007, there were 50,000 more visitors than during the same period the prior year.[16] CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, cinema audiences gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.[17]

Home media

The film was released on a 2-Disc DVD edition in the United Kingdom on April 2, 2007. It was released on 1-Disc and 2-Disc DVD editions and Blu-ray Disc format on April 24, 2007 elsewhere.

The film became the first non-Disney film to be reviewed by Ultimate Disney (now known as DVDizzy.com), due to the website dealing with other studios besides Disney.[18][19]

As of 6 December 2009, the film has sold 9,191,694 DVDs and grossed $153,566,058 in DVD sales.[20]

Awards

Award Category Nominee Result Ref.
Saturn Awards Best Fantasy FilmN/ANominated
ASCAP Award Top Box Office FilmsAlan SilvestriWon
Artios Best Feature Film Casting - ComedyIlene Starger
Coreen Mayrs (Vancouver casting)
Heike Brandstatter (Vancouver casting)		Won
Kids' Choice Awards Favorite MovieN/ANominated[21]
MTV Movie Award Best Comedic PerformanceBen StillerNominated
National Movie Award Best ComedyN/ANominated
Teen Choice Award Choice Movie: Comedy and Choice Movie Actor: ComedyBen StillerNominated
Taurus Award Hardest HitGreg FitzpatrickNominated[22]
Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Actor Age Ten or YoungerJake CherryNominated[23]

Sequels

The first installment in the trilogy, Night at the Museum was followed by a sequel titled Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,[24] which was released on May 22, 2009 in North America. The third and final installment, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, was released on December 19, 2014 in North America.[25]

In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter stated that the Alibaba Pictures Group intended to remake the film.[26]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Night at the Museum (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 5, 2009.
  2. ↑ "MovieLocationsGuide.com". Night at the Museum Filming Locations. Retrieved January 8, 2007.
  3. ↑ Classic Movies. "John Wayne: one last shot before the final farewell". Telegraph. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Sun2Surf.com". Stiller shifts to the Museum. Retrieved January 8, 2007.
  5. ↑ "Night at the Museum Soundtrack". amazon.com. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Night at the Museum [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]". allmusic.com. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Night at the Museum Release". imdb.com. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Night at the Museum Showdown". boxofficemojo.com. IMDB. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Night at the Museum domestic weekend". boxofficemojo.com. IMDB. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Night at the Museum Foreign Weekly". boxofficemojo.com. IMDB. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  11. ↑ "NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM foreign market". boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Night at the Museum". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Night at the Museum". metacritic.com. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Reelviews.com". Night at the Museum. Retrieved January 7, 2007.
  15. ↑ Arnold, William (December 21, 2006). "SeattlePI.com". Shallow 'Museum' exhibits some appealing qualities. Retrieved January 7, 2007.
  16. ↑ "msnbc.com". Movie boosts Natural History Museum visits. Retrieved September 11, 2007.
  17. ↑ "Cinemascore". cinemascore.com/. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  18. ↑ "UltimateDisney.com". Non-Disney films to be reviewed by Ultimate Disney. Retrieved April 20, 2007.
  19. ↑ "UltimateDisney.com". "Night at the Museum" at UltimateDisney.com. Retrieved April 24, 2007.
  20. ↑ "Night ath the Museum". the-numbers.com. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  21. ↑ "2007 Host Nominee Release". Nickelodeon. February 7, 2007. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Taurus World Stunt Awards - Hardest Hit". World Stunt Awards. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  23. ↑ "28th Annual Young Artist Awards Nominations". Young Artist Association. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  24. ↑ "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian". imdb.com. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  25. ↑ "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb". comingsoon.net. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  26. ↑ Rebecca Sun and Patrick Brzeski (April 25, 2016). "China's Alibaba Pictures to Remake 'Night at the Museum'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
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