Museum Stars Improv'd
Ben Stiller, star of the upcoming family fantasy film Night at the Museum, told SCI FI Wire that he got a chance to improvise comedic scenes with co-stars Ricky Gervais (TV's The Office) and Robin Williams. Not all of it ended up in the movie.
Williams, who plays a version of President Theodore Roosevelt, did "this hilarious improv where he would do ... Teddy Roosevelt in old newsreel footage, where it'd just be the fast motion and his voice coming in and out," Stiller said in a news conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., last week. "It was so brilliant. It was, like, a perfect Robin Williams bit. But we couldn't figure out a way to put it in the movie."
Director Shawn Levy agreed, adding: "This is far and away the most improvisational adventure-effects movie [we've] ever heard of, because, you know, whether it was Ricky Gervais or [Steve] Coogan or Owen [Wilson], oftentimes with Dick [Van Dyke], Mickey [Rooney], it was a heavily improvisational process. ... Frankly, my favorite scenes are almost entirely improvised."
In Night at the Museum, which is based on Milan Trenc's children's book, Stiller plays a night guard at a New York natural history museum in which the exhibits all come to life at night. Coogan plays a miniature Roman emperor; Wilson plays a miniature cowboy; Van Dyke, Rooney and Bill Cobbs play elderly security guards; and Gervais plays the museum's officious director. Stiller and Gervais have a couple of scenes together that relied heavily on improv.
"Ricky Gervais is really, you know, ... so much fun to work with in that way, because he ... cracks up really easily," Stiller said. "He cracked me up; I'd crack him up. ... The crew was bored, but we were cracking each other up. ... After 12 takes, they were like, 'Come on, already!' But it was really fun to work with him." Night at the Museum opens Dec. 20.

Van Dyke Is Back In Museum
Legendary performer Dick Van Dyke, who makes his first live-action feature-film appearance in more than 15 years in the upcoming fantasy film Night at the Museum, told reporters that he jumped at the chance to work with star Ben Stiller—and to play a guy at odds with his previous roles.
"I've been a fan of Ben for so long, and, you know, some of the best things in my life ... have been when somebody said, 'Why don't we get him to do it?'" Van Dyke said in a news conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., over the weekend. "These two guys [Stiller and director Shawn Levy] thought of me and called me, and ... I said, 'I got to be in this movie. It's a classic family movie. It's right down my alley.' Except for the fact that I get to play a bad guy."
Van Dyke joins veteran performers Mickey Rooney and Bill Cobbs as security guards in a New York natural history museum in which the exhibits come to life at night. Stiller plays a newbie guard, and Van Dyke's character has plans for him that are not at first what they seem.
"He's not a really bad guy," Van Dyke said, adding: "I get to sneer and leer at Ben a lot, and I ... get to beat him up, too."
One of the film's delights is a sequence over the end credits, in which Van Dyke, Rooney and Cobbs improvise a few dance moves. Van Dyke, who turns 81 in December, shows off the rubbery legs and nimble feet familiar to fans of his early musical films.
"Dick's incredible," Stiller said. "The dancing and, you know. ... I think it was like two or three times when I just turned to you and said, 'So you're 80? Really? I don't believe you.' ... I think there's, like, a portrait of Dorian Van Dyke somewhere in a closet."

Museum's Stiller Went Ape
Ben Stiller, who stars in the upcoming family fantasy film Night at the Museum, told reporters that he had issues playing scenes with a capuchin monkey, who torments Stiller's museum-guard character and, in one of the film's funniest scenes, gets into a slapping fight with him.
"Screen teams, sometimes ... on screen they have good chemistry, but offscreen they don't get along," Stiller said, with tongue in cheek, in a news conference over the weekend in Beverly Hills, Calif. "I'd say that's sort of what me and Crystal [the monkey] had. Because, ... first of all, she's a female monkey, and she's playing a guy, so I think ... she already had a chip on her shoulder about that. And she wears a diaper, and I think she resents that she can't control herself, so ... [laughs]."
Crystal plays Dexter, a stuffed monkey who comes to life in the museum every night, as do all the statues and creatures on display, causing grief for Stiller's character, a ne'er-do-well named Larry Daley. Among other things, Dexter relieves himself on Larry and gets into a slapping match with him, a scene that proved a challenge to Stiller.
"She got to hit me, you know?" Stiller said. "She gets to hit me, but, I guess, [there's] some rule, ... like the animal protection laws, ... [that] you can't hit a monkey, because they'll bite you or something. ... She could hit me as hard as she wanted and was encouraged to hit me very hard. ... It's like [her trainer would say], 'Get him! Get him! Smack him! Smack the crap outta him!' ... I couldn't hit her back, so I'd have to go like that [mimes pulling a punch], and then stop, and then when it came time for my close-up, I'd get the monkey puppet to hit, or like a green tennis ball. ... It's not satisfying. So I have unresolved issues with Crystal. ... If I see her now I probably would want to smack her." Stiller was kidding. Night at the Museum, based on a children's book by Milan Trenc, opens Dec. 20.

Night's Stiller Acts With Mom
Ben Stiller, who stars in the upcoming family fantasy film Night at the Museum, told reporters that he got to play a full scene for the first time with his mother, legendary comic actress Anne Meara. "We did some stuff a long time ago," Stiller told reporters in a news conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., earlier this month. He added: "But this was first time we actually did a scene. It was really fun, and, ... you know, we've got the same DNA, and it's sort of ... interesting to ... go back and forth with someone you're related to like that when you're not playing mother and son."
In the film, Stiller plays a feckless divorced father who can't get a job and winds up at the office of a no-nonsense employment counselor played by Meara, who gets him a job at a New York natural history museum where the exhibits come to life at night.
Stiller said it was director Shawn Levy's idea to cast Meara, whom Levy knew from the old TV series Fame. She was "Leroy's mean English teacher, and ... I've loved her work since then," Levy said. "So when we needed someone to play this kind of forbidding employment officer who ultimately sees a glimmer of potential in this rascal, I thought that Anne could really ... play it. And she did."
One thing audiences won't see is a bit of improv between Stiller and his mom. "There's a thing where I sort of wink at her that we cut out," Stiller said. "It was too weird."
"Yeah, it was officially too weird," Levy agreed. "It was definitely too weird."
"You were just exploring all the Oedipal layers to the relationship," Stiller added. Night at the Museum opens Dec. 20.

Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum) is producing and directing a film adaptation of Alex Williams' fantasy novel The Talent Thief, about a boy trying to thwart a villain who's using a bizarre creature to steal people's special talents, Variety reported. The screenplay will be written by Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay (Aeon Flux).

Night Shrank Wilson
Shawn Levy, director of the upcoming fantasy film Night at the Museum, told SCI FI Wire that it was tricky shooting scenes between a normal-sized Ben Stiller and a three-inch Owen Wilson. "The interesting thing about those scenes is literally the way we did it, because Ben and Owen weren't even in the same country [at the time]," Levy said in a news conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., last month.
Stiller plays a night security guard in a New York natural history museum in which the exhibits come to life every night. Wilson plays a miniature cowboy in a diorama exhibit whose feistiness belies his teeny stature. Much of the jokey interaction between Stiller and Wilson had to be carefully choreographed, since neither was in the room with the other during filming.
"Literally, we shot the scene with Ben talking to a toothpick, and Ben would say the scripted line to the toothpick, and then he would do 20 variations on the scripted line to the toothpick," Levy said. "Then I would literally have to watch it all, write down every variation that Ben did and, three months later, when Owen Wilson showed up, I would sit there, and I would feed him all 20 versions so I could get 20 possible reactions. And then, literally, I figured out editorially which ones I wanted to put together. So it is improvisational, but it's unlike any improv I've ever been a part of."
Stiller joked: "And then he would take that toothpick and put it in a club sandwich and eat it after the scene. That was to complete the process."
Night at the Museum, which is based on Milan Trenc's children's book, opens Dec. 20.

Gugino Joined Museum Late
Carla Gugino, who co-stars with Ben Stiller in the upcoming family fantasy film Night at the Museum, told SCI FI Wire that she came to the project very late in the game and started the film almost immediately after completing her short-lived TV series, Threshold. She didn't even have time to read the Milan Trenc children's novel on which the movie is based. Gugino plays a docent, and Stiller is the new graveyard shift guard, at a New York natural history museum, where the exhibits come to life at night.
"I'd been working on Threshold," Gugino said in an interview, referring to the CBS SF drama in which she starred last year. "We finished our 13th episode, which was all that we did, on a Friday at 2 o'clock in the morning, and I sat down with [Museum director] Shawn Levy at 10 a.m. that morning. I had a work session with Ben that Monday and was doing the movie on Tuesday."
Gugino (Spy Kids) said that it ultimately worked to her advantage that she hadn't read the book. "I remember asking about the children's book initially, and it sort of seems that [the movie] had taken on its own life and that it might be better for me to have the experience with the script they had when I got there," she said. "I know that my character was in and out of different scripts. So it was better to work with what was there." Night at the Museum opens Dec. 20.

Ben Stiller Hopes His 'Night At The Museum' Will Last Forever
Actor faces off against museum exhibits that come to life in December 22 family film.
by Shawn Adler
Ben Stiller in "Night at the Museum" (Rhythm and Hues / 20th Century Fox)
What's your favorite movie? If you're like most people, it's a film you saw when you were little. Sure, your tastes may have changed in the years since, but it's a good bet that a so-called "family film" remains up near the top.
"Those are the movies that you really appreciate, the ones that have been able to stand the test of time," Ben Stiller said. "My daughter loves 'The Wizard of Oz.' To be able to share that with her [is great]."
A star of the animated "Madagascar," Stiller takes a stab at live-action family comedy with "Night at the Museum." He plays Larry, an out-of-work dad who takes a job as the night security guard at a museum where the exhibits come to life.
"I was never really that aware of family films until I had kids, and then I became very aware because you want to be able to see a movie with your kids that everyone can watch and enjoy together," the 41-year-old father of two said. "You hope that any movie you do in the family genre is going to be able to stand the test of time and have an emotional connection."
Will "Night at the Museum" be one of those films? What makes an enduring family classic anyway? Co-star Robin Williams thinks it boils down to a simple matter of tone. "It's the idea of not talking down [to children]," he said. "They are much brighter than you perceive. If you have a kid, you know that immediately."
Perhaps that explains why classic family films often tackle complex, adult issues such as abandonment ("Peter Pan"), sacrifice ("Toy Story") and even death ("Harry Potter").
"When you're an adult, it's kind of like you're supposed to say, 'Wasn't it beautiful being a child?' But [dealing with those issues] is a big part of being a kid," "Museum" co-star Owen Wilson said. "There's a lot of what [Marlon] Brando was saying in 'Last Tango in Paris.' Was it beautiful being made into a tattletale? To be forced to admire authority?"
Another necessary ingredient, the three actors agree, is fear — having something that taps into a child's deepest insecurities.
"I do remember being scared as a kid in movies," Stiller said. "But that's sort of what's fun as a kid: how far you can go without being really scared."
As Larry learns to deal with the museum artifacts that come to life, he also learns to overcome his own limitations. "Dealing with deep fears," Williams said, summing up the aim of a family film. "It's not, 'Oh, you shouldn't' do that!' It's coping with it."
Stiller believes the film's setting goes a long way toward creating an atmosphere where fear can be overcome — a location of limitless imagination and possibility.
"The Museum of Natural History is sort of like the centerpiece for [New York's] Upper West Side, and growing up there as a kid, that place was just amazing," he recalled. "It was exciting seeing these moments in time that were captured — the feeling that anything could happen there."
Even a great family film? Stay tuned. "Night at the Museum" opens December 22.

Director Shawn Levy invites Ben Stiller and Dick Van Dyke to spend a Night at the Museum
By Patrick Lee
Night at the Museum is this holiday season's answer to Jumanji—a big-budget visual-effects extravaganza aimed at families, and also featuring Robin Williams. In the film, based on Milan Trenc's children's book, Ben Stiller stars as Larry Daley, a slacker dad who finds a job as a security guard at New York's Museum of Natural History, where the exhibits come to life every night.
The film also features a trio of showbiz veterans, Dick Van Dyke, Bill Cobb and Mickey Rooney, as the security guards who show Stiller the ropes. Shawn Levy (The Pink Panther) helmed the film. It opens Dec. 22.
Stiller, Levy and Van Dyke spoke with reporters at a news conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., last month. The following is excerpted from that news conference.
The interviews may contain some spoilers for the movie.
Dick Van Dyke, why did you decide to work on this particular movie with this particular group?
Van Dyke: Well, I mean, the group, that question answers itself. There's so much talent. I've been a fan of Ben for so long and, you know, some of the best things in my life ...
Stiller: What? Got that backwards.
Van Dyke: ... best things in my life have been when somebody said, "Why don't we get him to do it?" These two guys [Stiller and Levy] thought of me and called me, and I said, "I got to be in this movie." It's a classic family movie. It's right down my alley, except for the fact that [SPOILERS AHEAD] I get to play a bad guy. ...
You generally don't play a bad guy.
Van Dyke: He's not a really bad guy. The way I rationalized it is, what he's trying to steal, anybody would, which is eternal life and eternal youth. Anybody would steal for that, and he turns out to be an OK guy. But ... I get to sneer and leer at Ben a lot, and ... I get to beat him up, too.
Which of the items in this museum would you most actually like to see come to life?
Van Dyke: Mickey Rooney.
Levy: You know, I don't think we're going to top that answer, so we'll all go with Mickey Rooney. ...
Ben Stiller, with movies like this and Madagascar, are you looking more specifically for a movie to do for your kids? Like, do they ask you what does Focker mean [a reference to his adult comedy film Meet the Fockers]?
Stiller: [Laughs.] Um, no, I have not had my children ask me that. I haven't had my daughter say Focker yet. I'm trying to keep that, you know, from happening as long as possible. ... I think I've just become more aware of these kinds of movies. I actually started working on Madagascar before my daughter was born. ... But I think you just become more aware of it, because when you have kids you want to be able to go to movies that you can take the family to and actually all enjoy together. And I think there aren't that many great live-action family movies that everybody can enjoy. So that's what was exciting to me about this one. But ... I wanted to do it because I really love the idea. When I first heard the title, I loved the title. I thought, "Wow, that sounds like a cool idea." I grew up near the Museum of Natural History, and ... I just felt, like, a gut reaction, like "I really would love to be a part of this movie." ... I just thought as a kid I would love seeing this movie, and I thought as an adult, the kid in me would love to see this movie, too.
Ben, what was it like working with the monkey?
Stiller: Screen teams, sometimes ... on screen they have good chemistry, but offscreen they don't get along. I'd say that's sort of what me and Crystal [the capuchin monkey] had, because, ... first of all, she's a female monkey, and she's playing a guy, so I think that ... she already had a chip on her shoulder about that. And she wears a diaper, and I think she resents that she can't control herself [laughs]. ... And then she got to hit me, you know? She gets to hit me, but I guess some rule was ... like, the animal protection laws or ... just because, you can't hit a monkey because they'll bite you or something ...
Levy: I think it's just kind of viewed as morally wrong.
Stiller: Right. So ... she could hit me as hard as she wanted and was encouraged to hit me very hard ...
Levy: You know, Ben had to literally stand there for half an hour at a time, with whipped cream all over his face, as the trainer, right behind him, said [to the monkey]: "Hit Ben! Hit Ben! Hit Ben!"
Stiller: Yeah. ... "Get him! Get him! Smack him! Smack the crap out of him!" And, you know, she had this, like, way of doing it that really, like, when she connected, really was just really annoying, you know? And ... I couldn't hit her back, so I'd have to go like that [mimes a swing] and then stop, and then when it came time for my close-up, I'd get the monkey puppet to hit, or like a green tennis ball.
Levy: Which is really—it's not satisfying.
Stiller: It's not satisfying. So I have unresolved issues with Crystal, and if I see her now I probably would want to smack her.
Ben, I haven't seen you run that much in a movie. It looked like full tilt.
Stiller: Yeah, full tilt.
Did you have to train?
Stiller: I just studied Tom Cruise running in every Mission: Impossible movie, because I think ... he's one of the best screen runners, and I just wanted to emulate that.
Levy: I should add that all the sliding was Ben's idea. I mean, every day we would do a scene, and Ben would call for one of four shoes. There were the kind of good-looking boots. There was the sneakers for high-speed Cruise-esque running, and then there were these slippery booties for the scenes where he wanted [to slide across the floor], ... to do, again, the Tom Cruise, ... Risky Business slide across the floor. So, really, clearly an influence.
Stiller: It all goes back to Cruise, for sure.

Ben, you played with Robin Williams in this film, and it seemed a switch, where he's relatively restrained, and you're allowed to improvise.
Stiller: ... I think you never want to have to go into the scene having to improvise. You want to make sure that it's working on the page. ... But I do like to have the ability to like, try stuff just in the moment, to try to give it some sort of, you know, spontaneity. And especially if you feel like there's an area you can go into. But with Robin, our scenes, we didn't really do any improvisation.
Levy: I think because Robin was playing an historical figure [President Teddy Roosevelt], the latitude was kind of limited. ...
Stiller: He kept on doing this hilarious improv, where he would do the Teddy Roosevelt in old newsreel footage, where it'd just be the fast motion and his voice coming in and out. It was so brilliant, it was like a perfect Robin Williams bit. But we couldn't figure out a way to put it in the movie. Remember?
Levy: Yeah, it was really funny, and it still bums me out that we didn't find a home for it. But Ben's being slightly modest in that, ... certainly the entire visual-effects team that worked on the movie has said that this is far and away the most improvisational adventure effects movie they've ever heard of. Because, you know, whether it was Ricky Gervais or [Steve] Coogan or Owen [Wilson], oftentimes with Dick, Mickey, it was a heavily improvisational process, and a lot of, frankly, my favorite scenes are almost entirely improvised.
Stiller: Ricky Gervais is really, you know, he's so much fun to work with in that way, because ... he cracks up really easily, and so he cracked me up, I'd crack him up and, you know ... The crew was bored, but we were cracking each other up. They're just like, after 12 takes, they were like, "Come on, already!" But it was really fun to work with him in that. ... But Owen and I didn't really get a chance to work together too much, because they shot all [his] stuff after we were finished.
Levy: Well, the interesting thing about those scenes [in which a full-size Stiller talks with a 3-inch cowboy played by Wilson] is literally the way we did it, because Ben and Owen weren't even in the same country. So literally we shot the scene with Ben talking to a toothpick, and Ben would say the scripted line to the toothpick, and then he would do 20 variations on the scripted line to the toothpick. Then I would literally have to watch it all, write down every variation that Ben did, and, three months later, when Owen Wilson showed up, I would sit there, and I would feed him all 20 versions so I could get 20 possible reactions. And then, literally, I figured out editorially which ones I wanted to put together. So it is improvisational, but it's unlike any improv I've ever been a part of.
Stiller: And then he would take that toothpick and put it in a club sandwich and eat it after the scene. That was to complete the process.
Dick Van Dyke, do you have your own secret to staying young at your age?
Van Dyke: I think I picked the correct ancestors, for one thing. I don't know. I have always kept singing and dancing. I do a lot of exercise, swim and a little, you know, work out with resistance and stuff. And you get to my age, you have to, or you'll freeze up like the tin woodsman. I just keep moving, is the idea, and don't eat too much. ...
Stiller: Yeah, Dick's incredible. I mean, ... the dancing. ... I think it was, like, two or three times when I just turned to you and said, "So, you're 80? Really? I don't believe you." And also, you know, the character in the movie is sort of the same thing, ... that he has stolen this tablet that's keeping him young. So I think there's like a portrait of Dorian Van Dyke somewhere in a closet.
Van Dyke: [laughs] I guess some of the dancing's over the credits, I understand?
Stiller: Yeah.
Van Dyke: We laid down some dancing. He just turned on the camera and said "Dance!" That was it.
Levy: Literally, it was an idea that came to us on the day. It was never in the script, and we just played some music really loudly, and I just screamed, "Dance! Dance!" And, first of all, Mickey Rooney was kind of confused, and then he's like, "You really want me to dance?" And then they all really committed to it, as you can see. But none more gracefully and with such agility as Dick Van Dyke. ... I don't know if you stuck around that long in the credits, but my personal favorite is when Dick, after doing some weird, sinewy Axl Rose kind of snakelike move, he turns his back to the camera and just does a pure booty shake for about five seconds. I hope you caught that, because that's a gem.
Van Dyke: About the time you cut, I was ready to strip. ...
Ben, this is a very special movie for you and some actress named Anne Meara [Stiller's real-life mother and a veteran comic actress in her own right].
Stiller: Oh, yeah, yeah. It was really fun to get a chance to work with my mom. ... Shawn, ... I think that was your idea, wasn't it? To cast my mom?
Levy: Yeah. I mean, ... I remember Ben's mom from Fame. I remember her as, like, the English teacher.
Stiller: She was the mean English teacher.
Levy: Leroy's mean English teacher. ... I've loved her work since then. So when we needed someone to play this kind of forbidding employment officer who ultimately sees a glimmer of potential in this rascal, I thought that Anne could really, you know, play it, and she did.
Ben, this is the first time you two played a scene together.
Stiller: I think it is, yeah. I mean, we did some stuff a long time ago. I had, like, a cable TV show [HBO's The Ben Stiller Show], and, of course, my parents [Jerry Stiller and Meara] were on that all the time, you know, because they're parents, and they were helping me out. ... But this was first time we actually did a scene. It was really fun, and ... it's funny, because ... we've got the same DNA, and it's ... interesting to kind of go back and forth with someone you're related to like that when you're not playing mother and son. There's a thing where I sort of wink at her that we cut out. It was too weird.
Levy: Yeah, it was officially too weird. It was definitely too weird.
Stiller: You were just exploring all the Oedipal layers to the relationship.
http://www.scifi.com/sfw/interviews/sfw14339.html

Night At The Museum Link: http://www.vh1.com/movies/movie/290029/mov...ovieFlip1547913

Ben Stiller's 'Museum' Out-Cutes 'Happyness,' Beats Down 'Rocky'
Kid-friendly comedy tops weekend box office, defeating Will Smith, Sylvester Stallone flicks.
by Larry Carroll
The Top Five
#1 "Night at the Museum" ($30.8 million)
#2 "The Pursuit of Happyness" ($15 million)
#3 "Rocky Balboa" ($12.6 million)
#4 "The Good Shepherd" ($9.9 million)
#5 "Charlotte's Web" ($8 million)
(All numbers are as of Sunday, and do not include the Christmas holiday.)
Typically, parents have a tough time dragging their kids to a museum. So perhaps curators around the world should start planning their own Ben Stiller displays.
Stiller's high-concept flick "Night at the Museum" hit the high end of its studio's expectations over the Christmas weekend, stuffing more than $30 million in the stockings of 20th Century Fox. The movie, which tells the story of a frazzled night watchman under siege as museum displays come to life, co-stars Owen Wilson, Ricky Gervais and Robin Williams. It handily beat up on competing holiday stars including Will Smith, Angelina Jolie and Cameron Diaz, but Hollywood has to be a bit shocked over the impressive showing by a well-known underdog from Philly.
"Rocky Balboa" took in $12.6 million, a number that Sylvester Stallone would've no doubt been thrilled to predict as he watched doors slam in his face while pitching his sixth Rocky film to various studios a few short years ago. Trading body blows all weekend, Rocky may not have won the fight, but he did put up a heartfelt effort that impressed anyone who underestimated the battered Philadelphia boxer ... wait a minute, all this sounds like a possible plot for "Rocky 7." Stallone has promised that "Balboa" will be the final Rocky flick, but at least this much is certain: "Rocky V" will no longer leave its foul aftertaste as the series' final movie.
"Rocky" came out swinging hard, but Smith's "The Pursuit of Happyness" was able to lock the bathroom door and hide out long enough to wait out the attack. Grabbing a few million more than Sly's flick did, Smith's Oscar-baiting inspirational drama came in at #2, is now up over the $50 million hurdle and is possibly on its way to becoming yet another $100-million-grossing Will Smith movie. It's enough to make interns everywhere shriek with delight.
Meanwhile, Angelina Jolie's lips might be protruding even more than usual these days, as she pouts over the disappointing debut of her high-wattage spy thriller "The Good Shepherd." Co-starring Matt Damon and Alec Baldwin and marking Robert De Niro's long-awaited follow-up to the cult classic "A Bronx Tale," "Shepherd" couldn't even herd in $10 million over the weekend. With moviegoers preferring to peep at other flicks this weekend, box-office prospects for the film seem to be dwindling as rapidly as its Oscar hopes.
Rounding out the top five, the Oprah-tastic "Charlotte's Web" continued to disappoint with an $8 million tally that would barely cover catering costs for the film's enormous cast. Despite the presence of Julia Roberts, Robert Redford, Andre 3000 and Dakota Fanning — and the fact that it shares its title with one of the most beloved children's books of all time — the barnyard family flick continues to wallow in its own disappointing returns. With "Eragon" ($7.1 million, sixth place) burning out and "We Are Marshall" ($6.6 million, seventh place) getting upset by fellow feel-good-sports-flick "Rocky," however, at least the talking pig has company.
How'd We Do?
In a rare show of unanimity, the two MTV movie geeks and our Hollywood special guest ("TMNT" director Kevin Munroe) all correctly predicted a Stiller-iffic weekend. We also unanimously overshot the box-office numbers a wee bit, so it's a good thing we don't play by "The Price is Right" rules around here. I pulled back into a tie with Josh Horowitz, and have big plans to amp up my game in 2007:
Prognosticator (Weeks Won)
Josh Horowitz, MTV Movies editor (4)
Larry Carroll, MTV News writer (4)
Celebrity guest (1)
In Perspective
Comedy superstar Ben Stiller has been known to oversaturate the market from time to time (with six movies in 2004, even Michael Caine was urging him to chill out!), but he now seems to be to Christmas what Will Smith once was to the Fourth of July. Continuing the dominance of his enormous 2004 holiday opening for "Meet the Fockers," the 41-year-old funnyman has a Santa cause to release a comedy every December. As he's also proven, however, the other months of the year can be good to him as well:
» "Madagascar" (2005) $28.1 million
» "Meet the Fockers" (2004) $46.1 million
» "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" (2004) $30.1 million
» "Zoolander" (2001) $15.5 million
» "Meet the Parents" (2000) $28.6 million
Next Week
As we roll into the new year, half of all moviegoers seem eager to catch up on their mandatory Oscar-season goodness ("The Departed," "Dreamgirls," "The Queen"), while the rest are willing to take their chances with Hollywood's January-February dumping ground. Sure, every now and then a "Dark City" (February 1998) or "Hostel" (January 2006) is able to sneak in under the radar, but any film fan worth his popcorn salt will be rightfully suspicious of those "Code Name: The Cleaner" billboards popping up all over town.
The next seven days are filled with slow roll-outs of Oscar hopefuls — Cate Blanchett's Golden Globes juggernaut "Notes on a Scandal," Naomi Watts and Edward Norton's "The Painted Veil," Clive Owen's futuristic art film "Children of Men" and George Clooney and Blanchett's "The Good German" — and the high-profile continuation of a controversial horror remake ("Black Christmas"). If you're sick of the holiday sweets, however, you might be more inclined to check out two of the most under-hyped films of 2006, Guillermo del Toro's breathtaking fantasy "Pan's Labyrinth" and Tom Tykwer's equally out-of-the-box killer flick "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer."
In the next few weeks, critics will be offering up their yearly lists of great films that movie fans missed in 2006. So the question for next weekend might be whether you want to take a look at some art, or whether you'd rather go back to the "Museum" instead.
http://www.vh1.com/movies/news/articles/15...006/story.jhtml

Ben Stiller Fights Off Beyonce To Keep 'Museum' At #1
'Night at the Museum' tops 'Pursuit of Happyness,' 'Dreamgirls' over holiday weekend.
by Shawn Adler
Ben Stiller in "Night at the Museum" (20th Century Fox)
The Top Five
#1 "Night at the Museum" ($46.7 million)
#2 "The Pursuit of Happyness" ($24.7 million)
#3 "Dreamgirls" ($18.6 million)
#4 "Charlotte's Web" ($15 million)
#5 "The Good Shepherd" ($14.3 million)
Should old acquaintance be forgot? Not in 2007, apparently, as audiences once again lined up for "Night at the Museum," Ben Stiller's latest family-comedy romp. Buoyed by a Monday holiday for the second week in a row, "Night at the Museum" held the #1 spot with an impressive four-day total of nearly $47 million, making it the 10th and final film of '06 to win consecutive weekends.
Now in its third week, Will Smith's "The Pursuit of Happyness" finished second, bringing its domestic box-office total to just over $100 million. It's the sixth consecutive $100 million film for the former Fresh Prince, and his 10th overall. Of the 10, "Pursuit" is the biggest surprise — a quiet tearjerker starring Smith as a poverty-stricken single father, "Pursuit" isn't the type of movie that generally delivers huge numbers, especially in a packed holiday season. Can anyone now doubt that Smith is Hollywood's biggest star?
Not Jamie Foxx or Eddie Murphy. Despite overwhelmingly positive reviews and Oscar buzz, their "Dreamgirls" finished in third place with just under $20 million. But while it pulled in only a third of the gross of "Museum," "Dreamgirls" played in only a quarter of the theaters. The flick's per-screen average of $21,915 was by far the biggest of any film in the top 20.
"Charlotte's Web" turned out to be some film its third weekend in theaters, nearly doubling last week's take to land in fourth place, while Robert De Niro's "The Good Shepherd" rounded out the top five.
It was a tough weekend to be a new release. It turned out to be a very "Black Christmas" indeed, as the horror remake landed in 13th place with a paltry $4.6 million. "Pan's Labyrinth," "Children of Men," "Notes on a Scandal," and "Perfume" all failed to crack $1 million — though the first two did boast impressive per-screen averages.
How'd We Do?
Ten weeks in and there's still no runaway winner in our weekly box-office prediction contest — though we can't help but note that the writer has a slight edge over the editor. By correctly predicting that America wanted to spend another collective night at the museum (see "Projection Booth: Beyonce Hopes Moviegoers Are Over 'Christmas' "), Larry Carroll takes the lead heading into 2007.
The current standings:
Prognosticator (weeks won)
Larry Carroll, MTV News Writer (5)
Josh Horowitz, MTV News Editor (4)
Guest Celebrity (1)
In Perspective
2006 ended just strongly enough to push total ticket receipts past last year's mark. At approximately $9 billion, overall sales were still below sales for 2002 through 2004, but they are up from 2005. Five films cracked $200 million, and 18 movies earned $100 million in theaters this year.
The top five grossing movies of 2006:
#1 "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" ($423 million)
#2 "Cars" ($244 million)
#3 "X-Men: The Last Stand" ($234 million)
#4 "The Da Vinci Code" ($217 million)
#5 "Superman Returns" ($200 million)
Next Week
The animated feature "Happily N'Ever After" will face off with "Night at the Museum" for the family crowd, while the based-on-a-true-story drama "Freedom Writers" challenges "The Pursuit of Happyness." The thought-provoking 50 Cent/ Samuel L. Jackson war drama "Home of the Brave" breaks into wide release, and Cedric the Entertainer looks for laughs with "Code Name: The Cleaner."
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Projection Booth: 'Night At The Museum' Poised For Another #1 Weekend
'Code Name: The Cleaner,' 'Freedom Writers' can't compete with Ben Stiller comedy.
by Josh Horowitz
Ben Stiller in "Night at the Museum" (Twentieth Century Fox)
In case you couldn't tell from the five pounds you put on over the past couple of weeks and those relentlessly upbeat people who still insist on wishing you a happy new year, it is indeed January. And that means it's an exceptionally odd time for movie fans.
Traditionally the dumping ground for the big studios, January brings the debuts of, shall we say, lesser-quality films. If your flick was really going to haul in the big dough or get some awards consideration, well, it would be in theaters by now. And so we're left with the releases of movies like "Code Name: The Cleaner." We won't be too harsh. Maybe a movie about an amnesiac janitor who suddenly thinks he's a secret agent could be amazing. Maybe Cedric the Entertainer will live up to his name and have us laughing ourselves silly. Maybe.
Another film getting a wide release that we know for a fact won't have you laughing (don't worry, it's not supposed to) is "Freedom Writers." The drama starring Hilary Swank and R&B singer Mario tells the true story of a teacher who inspired her students to write about their tussles with drugs and violence in Long Beach, California, in the 1990s. Whether audiences will want to shell out their bucks for a film that sounds awfully formulaic (but in reality is actually a cut above) remains to be seen.
Since a slew of Oscar wannabe movies opened in just New York and Los Angeles over Christmas for awards eligibility, we'll see a bunch of those start to get wide release in the early days of '07. That's the case this week for the critically acclaimed sci-fi thriller "Children of Men." Starring Clive Owen in a futuristic tale of a world where women can't have babies, this one ended up on a bunch of "Best of '06" lists, but its haunting tone makes it seem a little iffy for box-office success.
Seeking a third straight week at #1 is the crowd-pleasing, special-effects-heavy comedy "Night at the Museum." The new animated fairy tale "Happily N'Ever After," featuring the voices of Sarah Michelle Gellar and Sigourney Weaver, will look to siphon off some of that family-friendly cash, but its prospects look bleak. The Ben Stiller comedy has grossed a formidable $115 million after only two weeks in release. It looks to be hard to beat even in its third go-round.
The Predictions: We're not ones for making New Year's resolutions, but if we were, it would be simple — predict the future weekend box office with 100 percent accuracy in 2007. Clearly our priorities are out of whack but luckily actress Dominique Swain shares our ceaseless thirst for prognostication glory. We welcome the "Lolita" star into the Projection Booth this week.
What's the #1 flick? How much is it raking in?
» Larry Carroll, MTV News writer: "Night at the Museum" ($32 million)
"Even the dimwitted Derek Zoolander would know better than to wager against a movie that opened at #1 and then actually made more money in its second weekend. So assume that my face is twisted into the Blue Steel position as I hereby decree that Ben Stiller's 'Night at the Museum' will be the first winner of 2007. As far as how many millions it'll make, let's say 32 — roughly the same number of movies Owen Wilson's better half has released over the last three years."
» Josh Horowitz, MTV Movies editor: "Night at the Museum" ($28 million)
"Did somebody green-light 'Another Night at the Museum' yet? They will. This one's a blockbuster, and ain't nobody stopping Stiller and company just yet."
» Dominique Swain, "Alpha Dog" actress: "Night at the Museum" ($36 million)
"I think 'Night at the Museum' is going to win. I saw the previews for that and ... yeah, definitely. I like Robin Williams."

Stiller #1: 'Night At The Museum' Tops 'Happyness' For Third Week
New releases 'Freedom Writers,' 'Children of Men' debut behind box-office holdouts.
by Josh Horowitz
Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller in "Night At The Museum" (Fox)
The Top Five
#1 "Night at the Museum" ($24 million)
#2 "The Pursuit of Happyness" ($13 million)
#3 "Children of Men" ($10.3 million)
#4 "Freedom Writers" ($9.7 million)
#5 "Dreamgirls" ($8.8 million)
It's been quite a few months for museums at the box office. First Tom Hanks finds a naked dude dead in the Louvre and sets opening-weekend records with "The Da Vinci Code" and now Ben Stiller's "Night at the Museum" is enjoying its third straight week in the #1 slot. Anyone care to wager if Hollywood has a development deal in place yet with the Guggenheim? "Here's the pitch! There's this serial killer, and he's stuck in the Guggenheim with a detective played by Ashton Kutcher! Do we get a green-light or what?"
The reality is that the unreality of Ben Stiller being chased by dinosaurs at the Museum of Natural History has been a box-office bonanza this holiday season. And earning a still-strong $24 million this past weekend, it's not showing much weakness yet. A $200 million gross looks as inevitable as the sequel that's sure to be announced any day now.
While Will Smith's heart-tugging drama "The Pursuit of Happyness" has been pursuing the top spot at the box office for naught, its staying power is similarly awesome. A $124 million gross for a drama resting solely on the shoulders of one star (the film doesn't even bother with a credible love interest) is mighty impressive. It's further evidence that Smith may just be the biggest box-office draw the world's got nowadays.
A couple of new entries entered the top five in the third and fourth slots. Alfonso Cuarón's Clive Owen-led futuristic tale of a world without babies, "Children of Men", edged out Hillary Swank's "Freedom Writers" for third place. Both films performed respectfully considering their midsize opening (each debuted in just over 1200 theaters). Still, the upside for "Freedom Writers" looks to be better than "Children of Men," which was made for a sizable tab (a reported $72 million) — though Cuarón's critically lauded cautionary tale could have a longer-than-usual shelf life if it garners any Oscar attention at the end of the month.
Films at the #5 spot aren't usually worthy of much attention — but when your name is "Dreamgirls" and you're playing in only 852 theaters after weeks of release, it's a different story. With an expected bevy of Academy Award nominations on the way (and a good shot at some prizes at the Golden Globes next week) and plans for expansion imminent, its $54 million gross looks to get bigger by leaps and bounds — and soon.
There was less cheery news for a debut that failed to break the top five, "Happily N'Ever After." This fairy tale apparently has a Brothers Grimm-like dark ending — a tepid $6.8 million gross in its opening weekend.
How'd We Do?
Everyone from yours truly to guest prognosticator Dominique Swain nailed it with predictions of "Night at the Museum" 's dominance (see "Projection Booth: 'Night At The Museum' Poised For Another #1 Weekend"). So it came down to who came closest in guessing the actual gross, and lo and behold, it was this writer edging out the competition. Check out our closely contested leader board below:
Prognosticator (Weeks Won)
Josh Horowitz, MTV Movies Editor (5)
Larry Carroll, MTV News Writer (5)
Celebrity guest (1)
In Perspective
He was the man most expected to earn his license to kill last year. But by all accounts, the role of James Bond wasn't the one Clive Owen sought. And with glowing reviews for his newly released "Children of Men," the man who would be Bond has nothing to apologize for. Here's a look at how the film career of Clive Owen has shaken out since landing on our radar with 2000's "Croupier." That's shaken, not stirred. Sorry, Clive — you'll always be the Bond that got away to us.
» "Inside Man" (2006) $88.5 million
» "Derailed" (2005) $36 million
» "Sin City" (2005) $74.1 million
» "Closer" (2004) $33.9 million
» "King Arthur" (2004) $51.8 million
Next week
A quartet of diverse fare is on the movie menu this coming week. The long-delayed teen drama — and Justin Timberlake vehicle — "Alpha Dog" will try to prove it's the top dog. And JT isn't the only music artist trying to establish film cred. Ne-Yo and Chris Brown star in "Stomp the Yard" and attempt to, yes, stomp the competition. No such tempting puns jump out with the release of Luc Besson's animated adventure "Arthur and the Invisibles" nor the South Africa-set horror flick "Primeval."

Night Still Tops
Night at the Museum remained the top film at the box office in its third weekend of release, taking in $24 million during the Jan. 5 weekend, the Associated Press reported. The three-day take raised the film's domestic total to $164.1 million.
Children of Men, meanwhile, expanded from its Christmas debut in a handful of theaters to lead the new wide releases in third place, with $10.3 million.
The animated comedy Happily N'Ever After opened in sixth place, with $6.8 million, the AP reported.

Brits Shut Down Museum
Four British theater chains have pulled Ben Stiller's fantasy comedy Night at the Museum from screens because of Fox's decision to release the film on DVD just 97 days after its theatrical release, Variety reported.
Night at the Museum opened in the U.K. on Dec. 26, but exhibitor chains Cineworld, Odeon, Vue and Showcase have decided to stop showing the film as of Feb. 1. Fox plans to release the DVD on April 2. The standard window is usually four months.
The protest follows a similar controversy in Germany last weekend, where several major chains pulled all Fox films—including Museum— from their screens after the studio announced it would release Eragon on DVD earlier than planned.
Museum has had strong box office returns overseas so far, grossing $193.7 million as of Jan. 29 and finishing as the top earner overseas for five consecutive weekends. The film's performance in London alone has accounted for 20 percent of that take. For the weekend beginning Jan. 26, the film slipped just 18 percent, taking in $2.3 million at 458 theaters in the U.K., for a running total of $39.4 million.

F/X has bought the cable rights to Night at the Museum, along with three other 20th Century Fox theatricals, for a total license fee of about $30 million, Variety reported.