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, Ricky Gervais

2 wins & 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
Charlie Murphy	...	Taxi Driver
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:

theodore roosevelt character | jedediah smith character | octavius caesar character | deception | american museum of natural history | 

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Taglines:

At the Museum of Natural History, something unnatural is occurring.

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Genres:

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 at 79th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$110,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$42,212,651, 24 December 2006

Gross USA:

$250,863,268, 24 June 2007

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$574,480,841, 15 March 2009

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, 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

Rami Malek (Pharaoh Ahkmenrah) is Egyptian.

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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

Spoofed in Mad: Dark Knight at the Museum/Lemming Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Video Game Deaths (2012)

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Soundtracks

Friday Nite
(uncredited)
Performed by McFly
Written by Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter, Jason Perry, Julian Emery, and Daniel Carter
Courtesy of Prestige Songs/Universal Music Publishing Ltd. Warner Music

User Reviews

Museums; " Where History comes Alive "

All Hollywood movies have one thing in common. They have the special ability to make past eras of history, rich, poignant and interesting. That is the premise of this film, "A Night at The Museum." It is the simple story of a father, Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) who has developed a strained relation with his son. The boy, like most children wishes his bond with his father was more secure. Instead, Larry dreams of becoming an over-night success with his wild 'get rich' schemes. In doing so he puts in jeopardy the custody of his son. To remedy this situation, Larry takes a job as a night-watchman at a museum. Unbeknownst to him, three aging guards, Cecil, Gus and Reginald (Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney and Bill Cobbs) do not inform him of their larcenous intentions, nor of the 'Special' magic which descends upon the place each night. Because of the three aging veterans of Hollywood and a well-placed Robin Williams, this movie is destined for Classic status. Due to the incredible artistry of special Effects, what the viewer sees is nothing short of wondrous. This is a fantastic movie. If pressed to find a flaw in the film, I'd say, I would have chosen someone like, Jim Carey or Michael Richards for the father/son scenes as Mr. Stiller was a bit artificial. Still, the movie is worth seeing as it is. ****