Night at the Museum (2006)

A newly recruited night security guard at the Museum of Natural History discovers that an ancient curse causes the animals and exhibits on display to come to life and wreak havoc.

Director:

Shawn Levy

Writers:

Robert Ben Garant (screenplay), Thomas Lennon (screenplay),

Stars:

Ben Stiller, Carla Gugino, Dick Van Dyke

1 win & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ben Stiller	...	Larry Daley
Carla Gugino	...	Rebecca
Dick Van Dyke	...	Cecil
Mickey Rooney	...	Gus
Bill Cobbs	...	Reginald
Jake Cherry	...	Nick Daley
Ricky Gervais	...	Dr. McPhee
Robin Williams	...	Teddy Roosevelt
Kim Raver	...	Erica Daley
Patrick Gallagher	...	Attila The Hun
Rami Malek	...	Ahkmenrah
Pierfrancesco Favino	...	Christopher Columbus
Charles Q. Murphy	...	Taxi Driver (as Charlie Murphy)
Steve Coogan	...	Octavius
Mizuo Peck	...	Sacajawea

Storyline

In New York, unemployed and divorced Larry Daley is a complete loser. His son Nick is very disappointed with his father who is going to be evicted. Larry accepts the job of night watchman in the Museum of Natural History and takes the place of three old security guards that have just retired in order to raise some money and pay his bills. On his first shift, Larry soon realizes that everything at the museum is not as it seems as the statues begin to come to life after the sun sets. The Museum transforms into complete chaos with the inexperienced Larry in charge as he learns that an old Egyptian stone that came to the Museum in 1950 brings these statues to life until dawn. When Larry brings his son to spend a night with him, the three old guards break into the Museum to try to steal the magical stone. Larry organizes all the historic characters to help him stop the criminals and save the museum.

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Plot Keywords:

museum | museum of natural history | night watchman | watchman | cowboy | 

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Taglines:

See the side of the museum you won't see on the tour.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild action, language and brief rude humor

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English Italian Hebrew

Release Date:

22 December 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Night at the Museum: The IMAX Experience

Filming Locations:

American Museum of Natural History - Central Park West and 79th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$110,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£7,690,312 (UK) (29 December 2006)

Gross:

$250,863,268 (USA) (22 June 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Ingenious Film Partners, 1492 Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS (uncredited)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Larry's inability to remember Christopher Columbus' name is a wink and a nod to producer Chris Columbus.

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Goofs

When Dexter tries to steal the keys for the second time and ends up with plastic toy keys, Larry puts the real keys in his shirt pocket. In the very next shot they are back hanging on his pants.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Taxi Driver: [as Larry walks into the street] Hey, watch it!

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits have a 3-dimensional appearance -- and cast shadows and reflections on their backgrounds

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Connections

Referenced in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #2.12 (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Weapon Of Choice"
(2000)
Written by Ashley Slater (as Ashley William Slater), Sly Stone (as Sylvester Stewart), Bootsy Collins (as William Earl Collins), Fatboy Slim (as Norman Cook), Mista Lawnge (as William R. McLean), and Andres Titus
Performed by Fatboy Slim featuring Bootsy Collins
Courtesy of Astralwerks
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music
Bootsy Collins appears courtesy of WEA Records Germany

User Reviews

Magical family film chock full of famous faces

I had the pleasure of some pre-release tickets and took the whole family along to see this movie with no idea of what to expect.

The movie started and got into the storyline of a divorced dad (played by Ben Stiller) who wants his son to be proud of him and his work but has been through a string of jobs without any success. His lad thinks he's wasting his life and begs him to just settle down and get a job.

So he goes and gets a job as night watchman at the museum of natural history and this is when we meet Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney and a token black dude.

He takes the job only to find that the whole museum comes to life at night !! This is when the fun really starts and there's famous faces all over the place, including a great performance from Steve Coogan, Robin Williams, Ricky Gervais and loads more playing such characters as Teddy Roosevelt, Attila The Hun etc It's a film that makes you laugh out loud in the cinema if you're a kid and I have to admit I did the same a few times.

The film goes on for about an hour and three quarters but is jam packed of fun and special effects It's a magical family film - so if you got kids go and see it definitely