ROTTEN TOMATOES: Night at the Museum 2 Must Be Funnier

Night at the Museum 2 Must Be Funnier

Reno 911 stars hard at work scripting the sequel.

by Fred Topel | August 28, 2007

Sequels always have to be bigger and better. For Night at the Museum 2, all Ben Stiller asks is that it be funnier. Writers Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant are working on the sequel, following boss's orders.

"Before we started Night at the Museum 2, you go through and you pitch your thing and you go to the studio and the director and everybody okays it, and then they asked for what [Stiller] he wanted out of Night at the Museum 2," said Garant. "A lot of actors would really send you a phone book of what they wanted out of it. What he said was, 'Just make it funnier than the first one. I just want it be funnier.' He's like, 'Well, this scene with the basketball, don't you think we can do better than a basketball scene, guys?'"

The plot details are still under wraps, but the boys promise a return to the original museum with all the characters, including the old guards, before the adventure continues. "There are a couple major new characters," added Lennon. "Two at least very major new characters."

The writers feel no pressure at the box office, though they are aware of how much 20th Century Fox is counting on the sequel. Lennon said, "Certainly I know everyone at Fox, in fact we were told going into it, 'This is the number one priority for the Fox studio, for Newscorp this year.'

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(1-20 of 31 posts) | Reply

jacog writes:
on Aug 28 2007 03:10 AM

Yeah, throw in some fart jokes and a blow to the crotch, maybe two. Test audiences really respond to those. I think sequels fail because they try too hard to top their predecessor.

(Reply to this)

MPSolo writes:
on Aug 28 2007 03:18 AM

In reply to this comment (#1077643)
Well, in terms of humor, there's not much to top. I guess you can only be so sophisticated in the joke department when you're pitching to the kiddies, though.

(Reply to this)

~*Admiral Snowstorm*~ writes:
on Aug 28 2007 03:36 AM

Anyone else foresee a trilogy? Or, at the very least, Night at the Museum: The Beginning?

Well, I think everyone knew this was coming. This was something of a sleeper hit, especially around where I live, and I'm not sure why. I saw it and it was alright most of the time. It doesn't really need a sequel but it's getting one anyhow, so whatever.

(Reply to this)

ZEZEtheX writes:
on Aug 28 2007 04:29 AM

This is probably why Owen Wilson did what he did...he got word of a sequel

(Reply to this)

semierotic writes:
on Aug 28 2007 04:31 AM

God, Night at the Museum was such a mediocre film...

(Reply to this)

Gimy writes:
on Aug 28 2007 04:44 AM

you guys are too negative, if you didn't like the film...shutup. or come up with original material. i thought it was cute AND funny, as did most of the people who saw the thing. i knew friends who don't even like Stiller, AT ALL, and they even liked it. this one will probably be just as successful and hopefully as entertaining

sequels FAIL because they DON'T try to be better than the original, they mostly just roll out a crap film just to make a quick buck on an already established name. i don't remember ANY sequel leaving me going "wow, that tried WAY too hard to be too good...what a shame".

(Reply to this)

Drunken Mastermind writes:
on Aug 28 2007 05:23 AM

NATM was't THAT bad,but the sequel will probably make Freddy got Fingered" look good.

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JpPrewitt789 writes:
on Aug 28 2007 05:28 AM

Good. The first one was a stellar disappointment.

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witherwings writes:
on Aug 28 2007 06:04 AM

Oooooh... suspense.

(Reply to this)

krawchi writes:
on Aug 28 2007 06:12 AM

I had trouble finding anything to laugh at with the first one

(Reply to this)

krawchi writes:
on Aug 28 2007 06:13 AM

I had trouble finding anything to laugh at with the first one. However, I'm not 12, and I suspect that was their target audience.

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FourthWall writes:
on Aug 28 2007 06:15 AM

Ben Stiller needs to be funnier.

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Crenshaw writes:
on Aug 28 2007 06:46 AM

My kids really liked this film, and I liked the fact that is was not a bunch of fart jokes, and actually had some real history in it. And aside from an unfortunately literal deus ex machina at the end, I had very little problem with the movie. It's a fun film for the sake of being a fun film. Nothing wrong with that. Every one doesn't need to be Citizen Kane. I agree with the above poster, if you didn't care for the first one, then don't go see it. I for one think a sequel will be better than the the first. Now that they have the exposition out of the way, there's a huge amount of potential in a museum that comes to life every night, and the caretaker knows it.

(Reply to this)

skasforfags writes:
on Aug 28 2007 08:00 AM

You people do know who the writers are, don't you? Or does no one watch Reno 911!

(Reply to this)

screwhead100 writes:
on Aug 28 2007 08:18 AM

Reno 911 is great

(Reply to this)

Derbeste writes:
on Aug 28 2007 08:24 AM

You want the next "Museum" to be funnier than the first one?

Have Ben Stiller and Dick Van Dyke come down with cancer, AIDS, and Parkinsens. Then set them on fire.

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CaptainSiberia writes:
on Aug 28 2007 09:11 AM

Why are we wasting money making sequels to films that shouldn't have been made in the first place?

(Reply to this)

Derbeste writes:
on Aug 28 2007 10:22 AM

In reply to this comment (#1078075)
You just answered your own question.

(Reply to this)

Sputnik99 writes:
on Aug 28 2007 11:06 AM

I'm not a big fan of the film, but I don't mind the idea of a sequel. I'll just wait for the DVD, though.

(Reply to this)

MPSolo writes:
on Aug 28 2007 11:40 AM

In reply to this comment (#1078075)
Because the films that shouldn't have been made in the first place gross ridiculous amounts of money.

I just wish that when studios make sequels to critically-panned movies, they'd actually take the opportunity to aim higher, and not just go with what earned them $$$$$$$$$ the first time. Anyone know of a sequel that actually did better critically AND comercially? And I mean films that were critical flops, not The Bourne Ultimatum. XD

Here's one for you: Jackass Number Two. Now let's find one on Night of the Museum's scale.

(Reply to this)

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