As you all know, Ben Stiller is taking on the wacky museum world once again for Night at the Museum 2: Escape from the Smithsonian. One of the big casting announcements for this sequel was Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart. Now you can see a glimpse of her as the famous pilot above, then check out one more below (featuring a few old friends) and others at TheBadandtheUgly (note: images possibly contain romantic subplot spoilers, so be warned). How cute is she?

I'm sorry Hilary, but I'm really digging the look of Adams as Earhart much more. I think the big difference between the two is that Adams seems completely natural as Amelia. Adams looks like she walked right out of the same time, whereas Swank's Amelia looks more costumed and much less natural -- at least, based on the images we've seen online.

The showdown of the Amelias will take place next year. Amelia is set to hit theaters some time in 2009, while Night at the Museum will hit screens on May 22, 2009. Which do you prefer?

It's hard to deny that, in any format, The Dark Knight has made a considerable impression on the moviegoing landscape (current gross: a bajillion dollars and counting), yet it's equally difficult to deny that the IMAX showings held their own potent appeal, thanks to director Christopher Nolan's use of proper cameras to help the action fill the screen -- and if any of you haven't noticed, that's a lot of screen to fill.

ComingSoon.net has confirmed that next summer's Night at the Museum and Transformers sequels will be showcased in IMAX, while it remains rumored that this fall's Eagle Eye and next spring's Watchmen will be as well. Now, while Paramount/Dreamworks and Warner Brothers have often been equally eager to offer up super-sized blockbusters in the format, I'm curious to know if audiences have subsequently raised their expectations for this fare. For me, the nearest location is well across town, and before The Dark Knight, the last thing I bothered to catch there was Beowulf in 3-D. (I can, however, attest that announced plans to format several theaters in the AMC chain for the IMAX experience are indeed underway a wee bit closer to my neck of the woods.)

So, without the draw of IMAX in its full effect, or even the likes of 3-D technology, do you find it any more worthwhile to go out of your way and catch an anticipated film at your nearest location, or will it take something truly special from here on out?

If the sequel to Night at the Museum wanted to retain the level of accuracy seen with the original, it would have a Chinese actor playing Russian Czar Ivan IV (aka Ivan the Terrible). But while I'm sure there will still be historical errors abound in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, the honor of playing Ivan has gone instead to pale-enough actor/filmmaker Christopher Guest (Best in Show), according to the Hollywood Reporter. And since Guest is actually a far more serious man than you'd expect, despite all those silly mockumentaries he writes and directs, here's hoping he studies his Eisenstein for inspiration.

A bunch of other actors have also joined Ben Stiller in the fantasy film, including Jon Bernthal (World Trade Center) as Al Capone, Bill Hader (Superbad) as General Custer, Alain Chabat (The Science of Sleep) as Napoleon and the franchise's screenwriters, Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, as the Wright brothers. This makes for a very packed cast, considering most of the first movie's co-stars are apparently returning, including Robin Williams, Steve Coogan, Owen Wilson, Ricky Gervais, Dick Van Dyke, Jake Cherry and Patrick Gallagher, the guy who looked all wrong for the part of Atilla the Hun. Other newbies to the series include Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart and Hank Azaria as Egyptian pharaoh Kah Mun Rah.

The sequel is currently filming in Vancouver, which seems a bit far away from the actual Smithsonian Institute, but reportedly the production will have access to shoot a few scenes in the actual museum, which is located in Washington, D.C. Maybe it will actually look like it takes place there, too.

I just caught Night at the Museum on cable the other day, and I still feel the same way about it: It's a fun little flick for kids and, at times, adults, even though the story is a bit iffy (I've always hated the whole "Dad needs to prove he's cool to his son" stuff). When the film hit theaters back in 2006, audiences went nuts for it -- and so a sequel was all but certain. Night at the Museum 2: Escape from the Smithsonian has already lined up Ben Stiller to reprise the lead role, as well as Hank Azaria (who'll play an Egyptian pharaoh) and Amy Adams (who'll play Amelia Earhart, apparently, instead of Reese Witherspoon). Now, in speaking to Azaria, MTV found out that Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan and Ricky Gervais will be back (reprising their roles from the first film, one assumes).

Gervais has been on the fence for awhile now; only a few short months ago, he revealed to us that his character is in the script and he would love to show up in the sequel should his busy schedule allow it. If Azaria is correct, it looks like Gervais has found some spare time after all. On his role, Azaria notes, "I'm the villain in the movie and have all sorts of nasty plans for modern society and poor Ben Stiller gets caught in the middle of it." On his fellow cast members, Azaria says, "Owen [Wilson] is coming back and so is Steve Coogan and Ricky Gervais. And there's other fun folks too who haven't officially signed on yet playing historical figures."

Since they're at the Smithsonian this time around, who do you think those other historical figures will be?

After one heck of a night at New York's Museum of Natural History, or at least a cinematic version of it, Ben Stiller is hitting the Smithsonian. As the news stands now, Night at the Museum 2 has got ol' Ben coming back, with Robin Williams once again ready to show off his Teddy Roosevelt and Reese Witherspoon possibly playing Amelia Earhart. Now, according to Variety, when production gets going this March in Vancouver, they'll also have Amy Adams on board.

Number two starts when "the artifacts from the Museum of Natural History are boxed up and sent to the archives at the Smithsonian in Washington." Adams' character is "undetermined," but she will be a historical figure who has a crush on Larry (Stiller). I have to wonder if they haven't figured out her character, or are just keeping mum about it. It seems sort of silly to sign her on as a love interest without knowing which figure she'll play.

However, in case they need help, let's provide it. If Reese hasn't signed, it could be Amelia Earhart. Not Louisa May Alcott. Margaret Sanger? Harriet Beecher Stowe? Susan B. Anthony? Helen Keller would make things interesting (if done respectfully). But here is my pick: ultimate flag lady Betsy Ross. Who would you cast Amy Adams as?

Yesterday we told you that Ricky Gervais was in talks to reprise his character from the first Night at the Museum for its sequel, now titled Night at the Museum 2: Escape from the Smithsonian, and that whether or not he joined the film depended upon his very busy upcoming schedule. I told him he has to do it (seeing as he was the best part of the first film), and he definitely wants to do it, but we'll see. Now Variety tells us today that Night 2 will take Avatar's release date of May 22, 2009, with the highly-anticipated James Cameron 3D film shifting over to a December 18, 2009 release. This kinda sucks, as I'm sure a lot of you were looking forward to Avatar kicking off the summer of 2009 with a bang. Instead, it will arrive shortly before Santa does. (Am I the only one who would rather the big films come in summer? December is always so ... hectic. Shopping, lists, fat men in suits ... I could go on.) Then again, Avatar will now be released on the same weekend that saw Titanic back in 1997. So perhaps it's a lucky weekend for Cameron.

Now that Night at the Museum 2 is swapping locations, they can also include some more historical figures. Variety tells us that Reese Witherspoon has been approached to play Amelia Earhart. The trade also indicates that other cast members from the first film might return (like Gervais), but we won't hear about those moves for another few weeks. Ben Stiller is already attached to reprise his role from the first film. As a straight-up kids film, I kinda enjoyed the first Night at the Museum. While the plot was cruddy, and the bad guys weren't all that scary, the flick was very alive and entertaining ... for kids. I'm curious to see what they do with the sequel. On another front, Fox also announced that it will release Ice Age 3 in digital 3D on July 1, 2009.

Today, I'm happy to say I achieved one of my many many goals in life: To meet Ricky Gervais and geek out with him over The Office. I couldn't help myself, and when we first sat down for our exclusive interview on the set of his new film Ghost Town, the first thing I said to him was something along the lines of: "I'm such a nerd when it comes to your version of The Office; I could talk to you for three days about that." Thinking Gervais would nod, smile and contemplate stabbing me for bringing up The Office when the guy's been there and done that ages ago, he was surprisingly open and, well, we geeked out ... just a bit. In fact, he said "No worries, I'd talk about that work till the cows come home; I'm very proud of it." I'll have my full interview with Gervais as we get closer to Ghost Town's release date, but I wanted to share just a tiny bit of casting news regarding the highly-anticipated sequel to one of last year's most successful holiday films.

Yes, I'm talking Night at the Museum, and its sequel Another Night, currently scheduled for a 2009 release. Since Gervais was such a big part of the success of that movie (his small role stole the entire show), we were wondering whether he'd show up in part two. According to Gervais, he's (kind of) involved; he said, "Yes, if I can. I've got the script and I really want to do it." We asked if his character is in the script, to which he replied, "Yeah yeah, and I really want to do it. I can't promise yet, because there might be a bit of overlap ... but I really want to do it. I love working with Ben, and I really really enjoyed working with Shawn Levy. He cares about the comedy ... and I want to do it. The answer's yes ... but I'm filming this, then I'm in post-production, then I'm on tour. The answer's yes, though."

Additionally, the series finale for Gervais' successful HBO show Extras airs this Sunday, and when asked why we should watch it, Gervais joked that, because of the writer's strike, it's the only original programming airing on Sunday night. So go watch it! (I guess it's funnier if you're there and listening to his sarcastic British accent ... but try your best to see the humor. Oh, and watch Extras -- it's a blast.)

If you grew up in or around New York and spent any time in the city's Museum of Natural History, you were probably baffled by Night at the Museum, which portrayed the landmark so loosely that it was totally unrecognizable. If you had to choose whether to bet that the museum was storing mermaids in a secret room (as in Splash) or resembled much of the interiors of the Shawn Levy-directed, Ben Stiller-starred comedy, you might have better odds with the former (it could be storing mermaids, but it definitely does not look like it does in NATM). Fortunately for us in the Big Apple, Night at the Museum 2 will take place in another location. In an interview with IGN, screenwriters Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon revealed this bit of info, though they couldn't divulge the actual museum we'll be seeing in the sequel (like Erik, I'd love to see a Salvador Dalí exhibit -- please put Stiller in Figueres' Teatre-Museu Dalí). Aside from this tiny leak, the duo, who wrote this next week's release Balls of Fury, could only share that it will be funnier than the original, which they also wrote, and that it would have "big new characters."

Of course, Robin Williams is reportedly signed on for the sequel, so the new museum will have to have its own Teddy Roosevelt statue -- unless Stiller's character takes the other one with him, which I doubt could happen. Despite the all the historical inaccuracies -- Attila the Hun obviously confused with Genghis Khan -- and the fact that it was obviously not shot inside the real Museum of Natural History, I didn't despise the first Night at the Museum. It sure was stupid, but I kinda enjoyed the miniature Owen Wilson and Steve Coogan, and I love a geriatric villain, especially when one of them is played by Mickey Rooney. Most of all, though, I appreciate the fact that it got kids more interested in the real museum, which saw a huge boost in ticket sales following the movie's success. It almost makes up for the inaccuracies that kids likely found out the real history and science by visiting the real place. Hopefully Garant and Lennon do better research for whatever museum they're tackling for part 2.

Check out IGN's video after the jump.

ComicCon is officially over ... or has it just begun?

• MTV caught up with Sam Raimi over the weekend, and (as most of us have done and will continually do until the man either throws a punch or gives up a plot point) hassled him about Spider-Man 4. Has anything changed since the director said he wasn't sure if he'd be helming a fourth installment? Kind of. A meeting has finally taken place between Raimi, Avi Arad and Laurie Ziskin -- they're "beginning to gear up to meet with writers" and Raimi still looks extremely uncomfortable in his own skin. The man still doesn't know if he will direct, but he does "want a hand in bringing it to the screen." As far as which villains will show up, Raimi has some ideas but would like to hear from writers on where they think Spidey should go from here. I say he should go to Iraq and help solve some problems over there, but that's me.
• Dark Horizons caught up with screenwriters Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon (Reno 911, Balls of Fury) at The Con, and the boys said they're beginning work on the script to Night at the Museum 2. The duo (who also penned the original) are keeping plot details under wraps, but say "there'll be existing characters and plenty of new ones." Both Ben Stiller and Robin Williams are set to reprise their roles. Man, what I would give to see a Salvador Dali exhibit somehow factor into the equation.
• Director Paul W.S. Anderson was also blabbing to folks over the weekend. He told IGN that Tyrese Gibson and Joan Allen have joined the cast (which already has Jason Statham playing one of the leads) of Death Race 3000; a remake of the 1975 flick starring Sylvester Stallone and David Carradine. Gibson is no stranger to high-speed chases, having also starred in 2 Fast 2 Furious. The film will revolve an ultra-violent futuristic car race in which drivers are awarded points for mowing down innocent pedestrians. Can't wait to see the lawsuits that come from this flick -- "Dude, I seriously hit that guy because I thought I'd get 10,000 points. I'm innocent -- blame the movie!" Says Anderson about the film: "We start shooting in four weeks time in Montreal. Jason Statham's playing Frankenstein and Machine Gun Joe's played by Tyrese Gibson. And Joan Allen is the big villain baddie of the movie, which I'm very excited about. She's gonna kick Statham's ass!"