night at the museum Tagged Articles at Cinematical

In an interesting video game/movie tie-in, GameStop has a promo running until June 30, 2009 ("or until all e-Movie Cash tickets have been distributed, whichever comes first," natch) called "Love the Movie - Live the Game," and it's definitely a mixed bag.

Basically, if you buy one of the following games, you can get a $10 voucher for select movies at participating theaters that's only good until July 31, 2009. That's a lot of ifs, especially if you check out the games they're offering, which are not all tied in to current releases. And some of them will make real gaming geeks bleed from the eyes. Take a look.

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?

This wouldn't be the first time that a sequel recycled material from the first movie, but since Night at the Museum 2: Escape From the Smithsonian has apparently gone so far as to change the museum setting from New York's Museum of Natural History to D.C.'s Smithsonian Institute, I'd think it would want to avoid repeating material from the original. I guess not. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Night at the Museum sequel will feature an "all-powerful Egyptian pharaoh" played by Hank Azaria, who is best known for the 1,000 voices he does for The Simpsons. If you remember, the plot of the first Night at the Museum involved a gold tablet stolen from the tomb of the fictional mummified pharaoh Akmenrah. In this sequel, which again stars Ben Stiller and again is directed by Shawn Levy and is again written by Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant, the pharaoh's name is Kah Mun Rah. It isn't stated whether or not the character will be a villain or not, but if Azaria does play an evil pharaoh, it wouldn't be the first time he played a nuisance to Stiller. In 2004's Along Came Polly, he was a scuba instructor who steals Stiller's character's new bride (played by Debra Messing) on the couple's honeymoon.

The trade also notes that Azaria has been cast in another ancient-history kind of role. He will play Abraham in The Year One, the Biblical-era-set comedy from producer Judd Apatow and director Harold Ramis, which Monika first told us about back in June, 2007. That movie stars an all-star lineup that includes Jack Black, Michael Cera, David Cross, Christopher "McLovin" Mintz-Plasse, Eden Riegel, Oliver Platt, Olivia Wilde and Vinnie Jones. Be prepared to hear Azaria do some crazy accents for each of these films, even though he typically avoids the cartoony voices in his live-action work (such as next month's hilarious comedy Run, Fatboy, Run).

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.)

As it stands right now, the end of the world as we know it (aka the potential Hollywood strike) is eying a June, 2008 release date. However, when it comes to the WGA (Writer's Guild of America), their contract is up on October 31, 2007. Yup, that's in a month from now. According to a New York Times article, the WGA could one-up their pals from SAG (Screen Actor's Guild) and DGA (Director's Guild of America) and strike early -- leaving some scripts, which aren't finished yet, in limbo. And if the NY Times is correct, one of those scripts includes Justice League of America. While the current draft, penned by Kieran and Michele Mulroney, was thought to have been handed in already, the NY Times claims it "still does not have a so-called green light to begin production." If more work needs to be done, and the writer's strike next month, it could seriously damage the status of those projects (like Justice League) that still need a bit more work.

And guild leaders are eying projects like Justice League, as well as the highly-anticipated follow-up to Night at the Museum, tentatively titled Another Night, because those are the movies studio's care about the most. But they're also the ones that need more work; projects that, if a strike were to happen, could be seriously delayed and/or shelved indefinitely. It's a smart move by the WGA; I mean, why strike in June when studios have already managed to stockpile enough canned beans to last a year or two? Strike now while they're still rushing to secure casts, and budgets and rewrites. Strike now when they need you the most. Personally, I'd be very surprised if Justice League of America actually makes it into production by early next year. Even if the writer's don't strike next month, casting has been one helluva uphill climb.

Rumors have been flying all over the place, with every other website claiming to have the exclusive on another name added to the film's potential roster. (I'm still game for Fred Savage to play Batman and Ralph Maccio as Superman , but that's me.) The way I see it, anyone who is not working early next year could be up for a role. Pick a name, any name, and write the following sentence: "We've been told by a super secret inside source that (insert actor) is being looked at to play (insert superhero)." Publish post. Congrats, you have an exclusive!

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.

Man, the Museum of Natural History in New York City is getting a lot of play lately. And it should -- it's a fantastic place to hang out for a couple hours. Not only was it predominantly featured in last winter's Night at the Museum, but Variety tells us that Warner Bros. just acquired a pitch that utilizes the landmark as its setting. Written by Michael Colton (not Bolton) and John Aboud, For Richer or Poorer will be a comedy that revolves around a female thief who partners with her ex-boyfriend to stage a fake wedding at the museum. (I didn't even know you could get married there, but I didn't know you could get married on a rollercoaster at Great Adventure either.) Can you guess why it's a fake wedding? Yup, the two, instead, plan to use their nuptials as a front in an attempt to knock off ... dinosaur bones?

Actually, I'm not sure what they plan to steal (probably some sort of rare stone, or something similar), but that's the premise. Colton and Aboud are hot right now; apart from For Richer or Poorer, they also set up their script Mild Things (about a couple who party like it's 1999 prior to having their first child) over at New Line, as well as Over My Dead Body and Nick Skyler for Montecito Pictures. There's also an animated comedy in there called Baratunde of Brentwood for Principato-Young (who are also set to produce For Richer or Poorer and Mild Things) and 20th Television. Hmm, I wonder if the girl and her ex-boyfriend will wind up together in the end? No casting or director assigned yet, but Warners beat out two other studios with their bid, and so I assume they'll want to get the ball rolling shortly.