Night at the Museum

"Where history comes to life."

2006 1h 48m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

🥫

43%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.5

IMDB

★6.6TMDB · 11,247🥫43%Rotten Tomatoes●48Metacritic★6.5IMDB · 404,946

FantasyFamilyComedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Chaos reigns at the natural history museum when night watchman Larry Daley accidentally stirs up an ancient curse, awakening Attila the Hun, an army of gladiators, a Tyrannosaurus rex and other exhibits.

“Where history comes to life.”

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Cast

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
Theodore Roosevelt

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Shawn Levy
Writers: Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon, Tracey Wilson
Languages: English, Italian, Hebrew
Countries: United States of America, United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$110M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 5.2× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 20 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Italian, Hebrew.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United States of America, United Kingdom.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Night at the Museum Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Shawn Levy, shot by Guillermo Navarro. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alan Silvestri. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Shawn Levy directs. Guillermo Navarro behind the camera. Alan Silvestri scores. Don Zimmerman cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America, United Kingdom. Dialogue in English, Italian, Hebrew.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1$110M budget — tentpole studio territory.
2Made its money back 5.2× over at the box office.
3Released 20 years ago.
4Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Italian, Hebrew.
5International production across 2 countries: United States of America, United Kingdom.
6Part of the "Night at the Museum Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
7Directed by Shawn Levy, shot by Guillermo Navarro. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by Alan Silvestri. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor Don Zimmerman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Ben Stiller and Carla Gugino and Dick Van Dyke carry the top of the cast.
11Marketing tagline: "Where history comes to life.".
12IMDB entry: tt0477347 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1311,247 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
14Classified under 16 themes, including "night shift", "skeleton", "chaos", "maya civilization".

The technical file

Cinematography: Guillermo Navarro
Original score: Alan Silvestri
Editing: Don Zimmerman
Production design: Claude Paré
Costume design: Renée April
Makeup / hair: Victoria Down
VFX supervisor: Jim Rygiel
Sound: Craig Henighan
Stunt coordinator: J.J. Makaro
Runtime: 108 min · 1h 48m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $110,000,000
Box office: $574,480,841
Return: 522% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Night at the Museum (2006)
Rotten Tomatoes: 43% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 48/100
IMDB rating: 6.5/10 · 404,946 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

2 wins & 8 nominations total

Part of

Night at the Museum Collection

A series of movies starring Ben Stiller as a night guard of the Museum of Natural History in New York City.

Also by

Shawn Levy

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-09-15
★ 6/10
I'm made of wax, Larry. What are you made of? Night at the Museum is directed by Shaun Levy and jointly written by Robert Ben Garant & Thomas Lennon who adapt from the book by Milan Trenc. It stars Ben Stiller, Carla Gugino, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Bill Cobbs, Ricky Gervais, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson and Steve Coogan. Plot sees Stiller as a newly recruited night security guard at the Museum of Natural History, who discovers that an ancient curse causes the animals and exhibits on display to come to life and wreak havoc. Not really one night at the museum, but three nights, it's a film that's enjoyable enough if expectation is set at the level for standard family action/comedy fare. All the elements for such are within, protagonist with something to prove to his son, magical animals and historical characters coming to life; and of course the general malarkey that comes with such a premise. Trouble is is that the premise is stronger than the execution. Sure it's energetic and Stiller makes for a likable loser-cum-hero type, and the effects will no doubt dazzle the kids, but it comes over as an excuse for the latter. Is it fun? Yes, yes it is, when it's in flow, but it does grow tiresome towards the run in and the pay off is as formulaic as it gets. It garnered enough coin to warrant a sequel, something that firms up the belief that the market for action/adventure/family movies is currently starved of portions. It's hoped that better directors, and better films, are forthcoming in this genre, so as to show the latest generation of fun seekers that efforts such as this are not high points. 6/10
CinemaSerf2023-06-19
★ 6/10
"Daley" (Ben Stiller) is struggling to find a job that will allow him to keep his apartment and in contact with his young son "Nick" (Jake Cherry). Even the job finders have given up on him until, that is, there is a potential opening as a night watchman at the Museum of Natural History. His application is presented to the ostensibly kindly old "Cecil" (Dick Van Dyke) and his two cohorts "Gus" (Mickey Rooney) and "Reginald" (Bill Cobbs) and he gets the job! First night, doing his rounds, all fine until things start to move, to come alive, to chase him, attack him - he's terrified! His colleagues arrive for work in the morning and alert him to a few, now rather obvious, facts and next night he has to try and assert himself with his congregation of native Americans, Roman legionaries, megalomaniacs, dinosaurs, lions - yep, just about everything that you might expect to find in a museum like this. He's making progress - discipline is creeping in as he manages to manage his charges a little better each evening. He even feels confident enough to introduce them all to his lad. The scene is set, the lights are dimmed, and the time comes - but on this night there is nothing. They remain statuesque. What's occurring? Well that's where the mystery and a wee bit of comedy bring this amiable film towards it's denouement. Shawn Levy has assembled a decent cast for this Ben Stiller vehicle. The humour is gentle with some "creative" history interwoven into the characterisations of Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams), curator "McPhee" (Ricky Gervais) and of course the three mischievous co-wardens. It's a smashing advertisement for just what museums can show us and if it encourages kids to go explore our past, then it will probably have done a more memorable job than the film itself ever will - but it's still an enjoyable enough watch.