The film follows 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 come to life at night by a magical Egyptian artifact, and must find a way to keep them under control.
Aspiring New York City inventor Larry Daley bounces between jobs and apartments. Although sympathetic, his ex-wife Erica believes he is a bad example to their ten-year-old Nick, who considers quitting ice hockey and plans to work in the finance sector like Erica's fiancé Don. Larry fears Nick admires Don over him, especially as Don gets invited to his school's Career Day.
Larry interviews at the Museum of Natural History with the almost retired night security guard Cecil Fredericks. As the museum is hemorraging money, Cecil and his colleagues Reginald and Gus are being replaced with one guard, so Larry gets hired despite his resume. Cecil gives him a manual, warning him he "not let anything in... or out."
On his first night, Larry falls asleep. Waking, he discovers the T-rex skeleton is missing. After finding the T-rex alive and being chased by him, he calls Cecil, who suggests using the manual. Larry tames him by throwing a bone, then names him "Rexy".
After sunset, all exhibits come alive, including: Dexter, a mischievous stuffedcapuchin monkey who destroys Cecil’s instructions and takes Larry's keys; rival miniature civilizations depicting the American Frontier, Ancient Rome, and Ancient Maya; a chewing gum-loving Easter IslandMoai who calls Larry "Dum-Dum"; American Civil War soldier mannequins; and wax models of Attila the Hun and his men, pyromaniacal Neanderthals, and Sacagawea. A horse-mounted Theodore Roosevelt rescues Larry from feuding miniature leaders Jedediah and Octavius. He explains that ever since the 1952 arrival of Egyptian Pharaoh Ahkmenrah’s Golden Tablet, the exhibits come alive each night. All outside at sunrise disintegrate. As they restore order, Larry sees Theodore loves Sacagawea but is too shy to tell her.
The retirees check on Larry, who almost quits, but Nick and Don's congratulatory visit convinces him to stay. Cecil suggests he read up on history. Larry controls the exhibits better, but must extinguish a fire the Neanderthals start. Meanwhile, Dexter steals his keys again, unlocking a window, so a Neanderthal escapes onto the street, seeing a group of indigents with a fire pit, and disintegrates in the sun.
Nick witnesses museum director Dr. McPhee firing Larry over the damaged Neanderthal exhibit. Eventually, Larry is given another chance to prove himself and clears up the misunderstanding with Nick. Rebecca Hutman, a museum guide and historian writing her dissertation on Sacagawea, believes Larry is mocking her when he reveals the museum's nighttime secret.
Larry wants Nick to see the T-Rex come alive, but nothing happens. The tablet has been deactivated by the retirees who want to steal it with other valuables to fund their retirement and frame Larry. They want the tablet for its vitality restoring powers.
Having regained and reactivated the tablet, Larry and Nick are chased through the museum, until Cecil snatches it, locking them in the Egyptian room. Larry releases Ahkmenrah's mummy from his sarcophagus. The pharaoh reveals himself as a fully living human, and helps them escape. Larry convinces the squabbling exhibits to help catch the guards and recover the tablet.
Gus and Reginald are captured, while Cecil escapes via Pony Expressstagecoach. Theodore pushes Sacagawea out of Cecil's path and is sliced in half but survives, being "made of wax." Larry pursues Cecil into Central Park, regaining the tablet. Theodore bonds with Sacagawea as she repairs him. Rebecca sees the exhibits returning to the museum and realizes Larry was being truthful; he later introduces her to Sacagawea. Theodore and Nick are proud of Larry's work. Larry laments he could not save everyone, believing that Jedediah and Octavius were both killed, so is surprised upon their return.
The next day, McPhee attempts to fire Larry after news reports about the night's strange events, such as the Neanderthals leaving cave paintings in the museum's subway station and Rexy's dinosaur tracks in Central Park, but the publicity boosts museum attendance. Larry is rehired, goes to Nick's next school career day, and celebrates that night with a party, with Nick, Rebecca and the exhibits. During the credits, it is revealed that the former guards, rather than being turned in to the police by Larry, must work as museum janitors as punishment for their actions, so they clean up after the party.
Rami Malek as the mummy of Ahkmenrah, a benevolent Egyptian pharaoh and the tablet's original owner, who becomes a fully living human at night. The film marks Malek's film debut.
Mizuo Peck as Sacagawea, the polyurethane model of the Lemhi Shoshone woman who guided Merriwether Lewis and William Clark, and later Theodore Roosevelt's girlfriend.
Before Shawn Levy was hired, Stephen Sommers was originally set to direct the film, but he dropped out due to creative differences and to focus on a proposed remake of When Worlds Collide.[5] The building featured in the film, which was constructed on a soundstage 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 film.[6] Filming took place from January through July 2006.[7] Trainers spent several weeks training Crystal, who plays the troublemaking monkey Dexter, to slap and bite Ben Stiller in the film.
Shawn Levy credited Stiller for assembling 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."[8]
Varèse Sarabande released a soundtrack album of the score on December 19, 2006.[10]
Release
Night at the Museum had its premiere in New York City on December 17, 2006. It was later released on December 22, 2006, in the United States, December 26, 2006, in the United Kingdom, January 12, 2007, in Brazil, on February 14, 2007, in China and on March 17, 2007, in Japan.[11]
Reception
Box office
At the end of its box office run, Night at the Museum earned a gross of $250.9 million in the United States and Canada and $323.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $574.5 million.[4] It was the fifth highest-grossing film of 2006 and also the highest-grossing film worldwide of the trilogy. It was also the highest-grossing film directed by Shawn Levy, until it was surpassed by Deadpool & Wolverine.[12]
It was the highest-grossing film in its opening weekend, grossing $30.8 million and playing in 3,685 theaters, with an $8,258 per-theater average. For the four-day Christmas holiday weekend, it took in $42.2 million.[4] 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.
During its international opening weekend of December 22, 2006, the film grossed a figure of an estimated $5 million, with the highest debut coming from South Korea ($5.04 million).[15] The biggest market in the other territories were the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, and Germany, where it grossed $40.8 million, $30 million, $25.7 million, $22.9 million.[16]
Critical response
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Night at the Museum has an approval rating of 42% based on 139 reviews and an average rating of 5.5/10. The site's critical consensus read, "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."[17]As of October2020[update], on Metacritic, the film had a score of 48 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[18] According to CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, cinema audiences gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[19]
Justin Chang of Variety magazine wrote: "This rambunctious, "Jumanji"-style extravaganza is a gallery of special effects in search of a story; rarely has so much production value yielded so little in terms of audience engagement."[20] 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."[21] 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."[22]
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 7, 2007, there were 50,000 more visitors than during the same period the prior year.[23]
Home media
Night at the Museum was released on a 2-Disc DVD edition in the United Kingdom on April 23, 2007, by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The film was released in 1-Disc and 2-Disc DVD editions and in a Blu-ray Disc format on April 24, 2007, elsewhere.
As of December 6, 2009, the film has sold 9,191,694 DVDs and grossed $153,566,058 in DVD sales.[24]
A reboot of Night at the Museum is currently in development with 20th Century Fox (now renamed to 20th Century Studios). It is understood that this reboot will feature new characters and a new story, and will not be a continuation of the earlier films.[33]
↑"Reelviews.com". Night at the Museum. Archived from the original on September 22, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2007.
↑Arnold, William (December 21, 2006). "SeattlePI.com". Shallow 'Museum' exhibits some appealing qualities. Retrieved January 7, 2007.
↑"msnbc.com". Movie boosts Natural History Museum visits. January 10, 2007. Archived from the original on February 11, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2007.
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