Night at the Museum 3 Spoier

Night at the Museum is a 2006 adventure-comedy film based on the 1993 children's book with the same name by Milan Trenc. It follows a divorced father trying to settle down, impress his son, and find his destiny. He 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.

Released on December 22, 2006 by 20th Century Fox, which presented the 1492 Pictures/21 Laps Entertainment Production in association with Ingenious Film Partners, the film was written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon of Comedy Central's Reno 911! and MTV's The State and produced and directed by Shawn Levy. Also producing for 1492 Pictures were Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan. The cast includes Ben Stiller, Carla Gugino, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Bill Cobbs, Jake Cherry, Ricky Gervais, and Robin Williams. A new novelization of the screenplay by Leslie Goldman was published as a film tie-in.

A sequel titled Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian was released on May 22, 2009.

Plot

Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) is a divorced father who is unable to keep a stable job, the bulk of his career consisting of failed business ventures. He is desperate to win the support of his 10-year-old son Nick (Jake Cherry), whom he fears is beginning to look up to his more successful future stepfather, Don (Paul Rudd), a bond trader on Wall Street. Larry goes to a job agency and is sent to the American Museum of Natural History, where he is hired as a night guard. The three elder (soon to be retired) night guards, Cecil (Dick Van Dyke), Gus (Mickey Rooney), and Reginald (Bill Cobbs), give him a quick tour, advise him to leave some of the lights on, and warn him not to let anything "in...or out", which Larry meets with humorous skepticism. Once night comes, Larry discovers that the museum exhibits come to life, including a living Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton which acts like a dog, a mischievous capuchin monkey named Dexter, which always steals Larry's keys, miniatures led by cowboy Jedediah (Owen Wilson) and Roman General Octavius (Steve Coogan), an Easter Island head (Moai) obsessed with "gum-gum" and a wax model of Theodore Roosevelt (Robin Williams).

Roosevelt explains to Larry that an Egyptian artifact — the Tablet of Akhmenra — was brought to the museum in 1952, and on that night, everything in the museum came to life, and each night since. However, if the exhibits are outside of the museum during sunrise, they turn to dust. Roosevelt helps Larry by restoring order (insisting it is the only time he will help), and while unnerved, Larry decides to remain as a guard. On Cecil's advice, Larry begins to study the history of the events and people in the exhibits to prepare himself better for their animation. He introduces himself to the museum tour guide, Rebecca Hutman (Carla Gugino), who is writing a biography on the life and times of Sacagawea (Mizuo Peck). Larry learns much of the history of the various exhibits from Rebecca. The next night, Larry uses what he has learned to better control the exhibits, but again fails when four Neanderthals set fire to a display, and one is turned to dust when he leaves the museum at the dawn. Larry barely manages to keep his job after the museum's director, Dr. McPhee (Ricky Gervais), discovers the mess. Larry tries to tell Rebecca about what happens to the exhibits at night, even offering to let her meet Sacagawea to help with Rebecca's dissertation, but she does not believe him, thinking that he was making fun of her and the museum, and leaves.

Larry brings Nick to the Museum, but fails to impress him when nothing comes to life. They find Cecil, Gus, and Reginald stealing the Tablet of Akhmenra, as well as multiple other priceless objects. They discover that to stop the creatures from coming to life, they turned the center piece (the tablet consists of nine gold squares) sideways. Larry tells Nick, who is holding the tablet, to reposition the square. Wanting to believe his dad for once in his life, he turns it. The tablet then glows, and a tremendous trumpeting sound is heard, coming from the T-Rex skeleton in the museum's lobby. Cecil then reveals that, like the museum exhibits, the guards receive enhanced vitality and energy from the tablet. Unwilling to forsake it, the three intend to steal the tablet, along with various other museum artifacts to fund their retirement, and frame Larry for the theft. Cecil then locks father and son in the Egyptian room and flees with the tablet. Larry releases the mummy of Pharaoh Akhmenra (Rami Malek) from his sarcophagus: surprisingly Akhmenra speaks English, having spent many years as an exhibit in the Egyptology Department at Cambridge University. Akhmenra then tells his jackal-headed "guards" to let them out. The three find the other exhibits fighting, and Larry, after the Easter Island head manages to get their attention, convinces them to work together to reclaim the tablet or else lose their ability to be animated.

Though the exhibits manage to capture Gus and Reginald without difficulty, Cecil escapes with the tablet by stagecoach, whereupon Larry, Nick, Akhmenra, Jed, Octavius, and Attila the Hun (Patrick Gallagher) pursue him through Central Park, eventually capturing him thanks to Larry's quick thinking of halting the horses with a secret word, "Dakota". The exhibits rush to return to the museum before sunrise, and Rebecca sees them crossing the road in front of her and realizes that Larry was telling the truth. Entering the museum, Larry introduces her to Sacagawea. The next day, Dr. McPhee fires Larry despite his effort to clean up the museum, but readmits Larry when the reports issued by the news media (i.e., cave paintings in the museum's subway station, dinosaur footprints in Central Park and cavemen waving torches) end up increasing the museum's popularity. Some time later, Larry appears in Nick's classroom during Career Day. Later that night, Larry returns with Nick and all the exhibits celebrate. Cecil, Gus, and Reginald, meanwhile, are allowed to remain at the museum but, as punishment, are forced to mop up the foam that the cavemen eat. At one point Cecil tries to get out of doing work by sleeping, but Gus forces him to clean up while Gus doesn't do any work.

Larry does a final check of the museum and flips his flashlight into his holster, turning it off using his "Snapper" device (mentioned earlier in the film.)

During the film's closing credits, the three new janitors are shown briefly, including Dick Van Dyke dancing with his broom, just as limber as he was in the 60s.

Production

The building featured in the film, which was constructed on a sound stage in Burnaby, is based on the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, external shots of which were used in the movie.[3] Trainers spent several weeks training Crystal, who plays the troublemaking monkey Dexter, to slap and bite Stiller in the film. 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.

Cast

* Ben Stiller - Larry Daley, a sporadically unemployed man and the protagonist of the film. He often has trouble keeping a job, but eventually gets a job as a night guard at the Museum of Natural History. He ultimately helps to save the museum when three night guards conspire to steal the Tablet of Ahkmenrah.
* Robin Williams - Theodore Roosevelt
* Jake Cherry - Nicky Daley, Larry's son
* Dick Van Dyke - Cecil Fredericks, a seemingly friendly and wise night guard who serves as the main antagonist of the film. He, Gus and Reginald plot to steal the Tablet of Ahkmenrah so that they can become immortal and live forever. They also intend to steal several other museum artifacts and sell them off to fund their retirement and be rich. During most of the film, he is shown to be a seemingly friendly man who acts as Larry's mentor, while in reality he is sneaky and greedy, which is later revealed in the climax.
* Carla Gugino - Rebecca Hutman, a docent at the Museum of Natural History. She is particularly fervent about Sacagawea, to such an extent that she is writing her (900 page) dissertation on the subject. Towards the end of the film, she does meet her in person.
* Mickey Rooney - Gus, one of the night guards
* Bill Cobbs - Reginald, the third of the night guards
* Owen Wilson - Jedediah (uncredited)
* Steve Coogan - Octavius
* Patrick Gallagher - Attila the Hun
* Rami Malek - Ahkmenrah, the good-hearted Pharaoh who is finally awakened from his tomb during the climax of the film. He helps Larry and Nicky save the museum and befriends them. He also owns the tablet that enables the exhibits to come to life.
* Mizuo Peck - Sacagawea
* Ricky Gervais - Dr. McPhee, the strict and paranoid director of the Museum of Natural History
* Crystal the Monkey - Dexter
* Kim Raver - Erica Daley, Larry's ex-wife and Nicky's mother. She is currently engaged to Don, a bond trader.
* Pierfrancesco Favino - Christopher Columbus
* Brad Garrett - The Easter Island Head (voice)
* Charlie Murphy - Taxi Driver
* Paul Rudd - Don, a bond trader and Nicky's stepfather
* Anne Meara-Stiller (Ben Stiller's real-life mother) - Debbie
* Martin Christopher - Meriwether Lewis
* Martin Sims - William Clark
* Ian Campbell - Painter
* "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 & 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.
* A Muzak 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.