Will The Ben Stiller Sequel Happen?
Jessica Cortez The Ben Stiller-fronted Night At The Museum franchise produced three successful movies so far, but will a fourth film happen? Here’s what we know.
Secret Of The Tomb may have ended the trilogy but is there a chance Night At The Museum 4 could happen? Based on Croatian illustrator Milan Trenc’s children’s book, the Night At The Museum movies are directed by Stranger Things producer Shawn Levy and star Ben Stiller as a museum night watchmen named Larry Daley whose exhibits – including wax models of Teddy Roosevelt and Atilla the Hun – come to life at night.
The first film was released in 2006 and saw Larry take up a job at the American Museum of Natural History in New York to prove his worth to ex-wife Erica (Kim Raver) and young son Nick (Jake Cherry). The second installment, Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian, hit theaters in 2009 and moved the action to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. and saw Larry team with a newly animated wax model of Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams) to return the mystical tablet responsible for bringing the exhibits to life back to its rightful home in New York.
The last Night At The Museum film came in 2014 with the subtitle Secret Of The Tomb and saw Larry travel to London’s British Museum where he met with fellow security guard Tilly (Rebel Wilson). The ending tied things up nicely, with a flash-forward set three years later that saw Tilly go to New York with a traveling exhibit and implied she took over Larry’s reins at the American Museum of Natural History. While its ending suggests the franchise is over, could Night At The Museum 4 still happen? Here’s what we know.
Night At The Museum's Shawn Levy Doesn’t Want A New Movie
According to a 2016 interview between director Shawn Levy and The Hollywood Reporter, the Night At The Museum director is pretty content with the way Secret Of The Tomb concluded the series, especially in light of star Robin Williams’ death in 2014:
“I knew that the third movie would be about the characters saying goodbye and us also saying goodbye. And then when Robin [Williams] died, that sealed it. That was just a horrible many months.”
That said, Levy did express that he thought the Night At The Museum series had life in it yet, stating that “offshoots of the film franchise” may happen in the future.
Night At The Museum 4 Might Not Happen But A Reboot Could
While fans of the franchise shouldn’t get their hopes up about Night At The Museum 4, it looks like the recent Disney-Fox merger could produce a continuation in some way or another. In August 2019, Disney big wig Bob Iger announced the House of Mouse would reboot several properties including Night At The Museum via its recently launched Disney+ streaming service. It’s not yet known whether the Night At The Museum reboot will take the form of a movie or TV show, but at least it means the franchise is likely to live on in some way.
