Three years after the events of the first film, Larry Daley has left his job as night guard at the American Museum of Natural History to start a company selling his own inventions on direct response television. He visits the museum and learns most of the exhibits will be moved to the Smithsonian Institution archives and replaced with holographic displays, but the Tablet of Ahkmenrah will stay behind, leaving the departing exhibits without the ability to come to life at night.
Later, Larry receives a panicked phone call from miniature cowboy Jedediah, who explains that Dexter the monkey brought the tablet to the Smithsonian, where they are under attack by Ahkmenrah's older brother Kahmunrah. Larry travels to Washington, DC and poses as a night guard to sneak into the archives, where he finds his friends trapped by Kahmunrah, who plans to use the tablet's powers to conquer the world.
Aided by General George A. Custer, who is captured, Larry is joined by Amelia Earhart. They evade Kahmunrah's soldiers inside the photograph of V-J Day in Times Square, leading Kahmunrah to enlist Ivan the Terrible, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Al Capone to retrieve the tablet. Larry is captured, but when the tablet fails to open the Gate of the Underworld, Kahmunrah traps Jedediah in an hourglass and gives Larry one hour to decipher the tablet's combination.
They crash into the Smithsonian, where Kahmunrah uses the combination to open the gate and summon an army of Horus warriors. Miniature Roman general Octavius arrives with the statue of Lincoln, frightening the warriors back to the Underworld, and Amelia gathers an army of allies including Larry's friends and Custer, leading to a climactic battle. Larry helps Custer overcome his fear of repeating the Battle of Little Big Horn, while Octavius rescues Jedediah, and Larry recovers the tablet and turns Capone, Bonaparte, and Ivan against each other. Armed with his flashlight, Larry duels a khopesh-wielding Kahmunrah as Amelia reopens the gate, allowing Larry to banish Kahmunrah to the Underworld.
Flying Larry and the New York exhibits home, Amelia reveals that she knows she is only a wax figure of the real aviator, and she and Larry share a kiss before she takes off back to the Smithsonian. Two months later, Larry has sold his company and made an anonymous donation to renovate the Natural History Museum and extend its nighttime visiting hours when the exhibits are alive; believed to be animatronics and hired reenactors, the exhibits are now able to interact with visitors at night. Back in his old job as night guard, Larry hits it off with a visitor named Tess, who bears a striking resemblance to Amelia.
Cast
Owen Wilson, Amy Adams and Ben Stiller at a panel for the film in May 2009.
Humans
Ben Stiller as Larry Daley, a night security guard and Amelia’s love interest.
Ricky Gervais as Dr. McPhee, the curator at the Museum of Natural History and Larry's boss.
Jake Cherry as Nick Daley, the son of Larry Daley.
Caroll Spinney as Oscar the Grouch, the famous Sesame Street character that tries to ally with Kahmunrah only to be dismissed because he classified him as "vaguely grouchy."
Thomas Morley as Darth Vader, the famous Star Wars character that tries to ally with Kahmunrah only to be turned away because he classified him as "dark."[2]
Writers Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon confirmed to Dark Horizons that they were writing a sequel to Night at the Museum, originally with the tentative title Another Night at the Museum. The writers said that "there'll be existing characters and plenty of new ones."
An alternate ending included on the DVD and Blu-ray releases featured the return of Dick Van Dyke as Cecil Fredericks, Bill Cobbs as Reginald, and Mickey Rooney as Gus.
Filmmakers loaned the Smithsonian Institution props used in the movie which were displayed in the Smithsonian Castle including the pile of artifacts featured in the film.[4] The Smithsonian also made a brochure available online and at museum visitor service desks outlining where to find artifacts.[5]
As of 2009, numerous artifacts which inspired the film were on display at Smithsonian Museums along the National Mall. Many of the artifacts are labeled with "Night at the Museum" logos.[5] Gift shops at the Smithsonian also sell a replica of the Einstein Bobble-head, created specifically as a tie-in to the film.
A trailer of Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian was released on December 19, 2008.[10] The film released on May 22, 2009 in United States.
Home media
The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD on December 1, 2009.
Reception
Box office
At the end of its box office run, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian earned a gross of $177 million in North America and $236 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $413 million against a budget of $150 million.[1]
On Friday, May 22, 2009, its opening day, the film's estimated gross was $16 million, for second day the film grossed $20 million and for third day the gross was $19 million, coming in ahead of Terminator Salvation (which released on Thursday) in 4,096 theaters at No. 1, reaching up to $54.1 million, with a $13,226 per-theater average over the Memorial Day weekend.[11] By comparison, Night at the Museum reached up to $30 million on its opening weekend in December 2006. For its second weekend, the film grossed $24.35 million, for third weekend $14.6 million.[12]
For the opening weekend of May 22, 2009 the film grossed $49 million while playing in theaters of 56 territories; the film debuted in UK ($6.6 million), Russia ($5.23 million) and France ($5.05 million).[13] The largest market in other territories being UK, Japan, Germany, Australia and France where the film grossed $32.8 million, $21.49 million, $18.78 million, $14.03 million and $13.3 million.[14] The film exhibited at 160 IMAX screens and contributing $5.4 million of the gross. The top grossing IMAX venue was the Smithsonian.[15]
Critical response
The film received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 44% approval rating, based on 168 reviews, with an average score of 5.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian is busy enough to keep the kids interested but the slapstick goes overboard and the special effects (however well executed) throw the production into mania".[16]Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 42 out of 100 based on reviews from 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[17]
Critics praised Amy Adams' and Hank Azaria's performances. Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune awarded the film 3 stars stating that "[Adams]'s terrific -- a sparkling screen presence."[18]Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B+ stating "Battle of the Smithsonian has plenty of life. But it's Adams who gives it zing."[19] Perry Seibert of TV Guide gave the film 2 stars despite honoring that "thanks to Azaria, a master of comic timing. His grandiose, yet slightly fey bad guy is equally funny when he's chewing out minions as he is when deliberating if Oscar the Grouch and Darth Vader are evil enough to join his team.[20] Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter and A.O. Scott of The New York Times enjoyed both performances.[21][22]
One critic, Scott Tobias of The A.V. Club, panned the movie for its excessive use of special effects when he described the film as "a baffling master plot and a crowded pileup of special effects in search of something to do."[23]Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times awarded the film 1½ stars out of 4 saying "its premise is lame, its plot relentlessly predictable, its characters with personalities that would distinguish picture books."[24]
In CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, cinema audiences gave Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[25][26]
The video game based on the film was released on May 5, 2009. It was fairly well received in comparison to the majority of film-based video-games, netting a 7.5 out of 10 from IGN.com.
Ben Stiller admitted that a sequel was "a possibility" and on January 21, 2010, co-writer Thomas Lennon said to Access Hollywood, "That after the success of two Night at the Museum films, it's no surprise that 20th Century Fox is looking to develop a third and that those suspicions are indeed true and how could you not? I think it's a really outstanding idea to do Night at the Museum 3, in fact," he said. "I wonder if someone's not even already working on a script for that," he added with a raised eyebrow. "I cannot confirm that for a fact, but I cannot deny it for a fact either... It might be in the works." In an interview, Stiller confirmed the sequel, however, he said that it was only in the "ideas stage".[29]
It was announced in February 2013 that the film, directed by Shawn Levy, would be released on December 25, 2014.[30] On September 10, 2013, it was announced that shooting would start in February 2014.[31] On November 8, 2013, English actor Dan Stevens was cast as Sir Lancelot.[32] On November 15, 2013, it was announced Skyler Gisondo would be replacing Jake Cherry for the role of Nicky Daley.[33] On December 18, 2013 it was announced that Robin Williams, Stiller, and Ricky Gervais would be returning for the sequel.[34] On January 9, 2014, it was announced that Rebel Wilson would play a security guard in the British Museum.[35] On January 14, 2014, the film's release date was moved up from December 25, 2014, to December 19, 2014.[36] On January 23, 2014, it was announced Ben Kingsley would play an Egyptian Pharaoh at the British Museum.[37]Principal photography and production began on January 27, 2014.[38] In May 2014, principal photography ended.[39]
^Alan Silvestri (2009). Night At the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (liner notes). Varèse Sarabande. 509990 87553 2 2.
