Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (Sony version)

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (also known as Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian or just Night at the Museum 2) is a 2015 American fantasy comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, The Kerner Entertainment Company, and LStar Capital, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is the second installment in the Night at the Museum series, following Night at the Museum (2011). The film was again directed by Raja Gosnell from a screenplay written by Karey Kirkpatrick and the writing teams of John Requa and Glenn Ficarra. The film stars Andy Samberg and Selena Gomez in the lead role, T. J. Miller, Seth Rogen, Luke Evans and Steve Carell.
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian was released on September 25, 2015, by Sony Pictures Releasing under the Columbia Pictures label. The film received generally positive reviews from critics. It set several box office records, grossing over $672 million at the worldwide box office, surpassing its predecessor and becoming the third-highest-grossing film of the year domestically in the United States and the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2015.
== Plot ==
Three years after the events of the first film, Larry Daley has left his job as night guard at the American Museum of Natural History to start a company selling his own inventions on direct response television. He visits the museum and learns most of the exhibits will be moved to the Smithsonian Institution archives and replaced with holographic displays, but the Tablet of Ahkmenrah will stay behind, leaving the departing exhibits without the ability to come to life at night.
Later, Larry receives a panicked phone call from miniature cowboy Jedediah, who explains that Dexter the monkey brought the tablet to the Smithsonian, where they are under attack by Ahkmenrah's older brother Kahmunrah. Larry travels to Washington, DC and poses as a night guard to sneak into the archives, where he finds his friends trapped by Kahmunrah, who plans to use the tablet's powers to conquer the world.
Aided by General George A. Custer, who is captured, Larry is joined by Amelia Earhart. They evade Kahmunrah's soldiers inside the photograph of V-J Day in Times Square, leading Kahmunrah to enlist Ivan the Terrible, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Al Capone to retrieve the tablet. Larry is captured, but when the tablet fails to open the Gate of the Underworld, Kahmunrah traps Jedediah in an hourglass and gives Larry one hour to decipher the tablet's combination.
Amelia has fallen in love with Larry, and the statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial mistakes them for a couple as they reach the National Air and Space Museum. They encounter various figures from the history of flight, including the Wright brothers, a squadron of Tuskegee Airmen, and Able the space monkey, while a group of Albert Einstein bobbleheads explain that the combination is the value of pi. Napoleon, Ivan, and Capone's troops arrive, prompting Larry and Amelia to escape in the Wright Flyer.
They crash into the Smithsonian, where Kahmunrah uses the combination to open the gate and summon an army of Horus warriors. Miniature Roman general Octavius arrives with the statue of Lincoln, frightening the warriors back to the Underworld, and Amelia gathers an army of allies including Larry's friends and Custer, leading to a climactic battle. Larry helps Custer overcome his fear of repeating the Battle of Little Big Horn, while Octavius rescues Jedediah, and Larry recovers the tablet and turns Capone, Bonaparte, and Ivan against each other. Armed with his flashlight, Larry duels a khopesh-wielding Kahmunrah as Amelia reopens the gate, allowing Larry to banish Kahmunrah to the Underworld.
Flying Larry and the New York exhibits home, Amelia reveals that she knows she is only a wax figure of the real aviator, and she and Larry share a kiss before she takes off back to the Smithsonian. Two months later, Larry has sold his company and made an anonymous donation to renovate the Natural History Museum and extend its nighttime visiting hours when the exhibits are alive; believed to be animatronics and hired reenactors, the exhibits are now able to interact with visitors at night. Back in his old job as night guard, Larry hits it off with a visitor named Tess, who bears a striking resemblance to Amelia.
== Cast ==
=== Humans ===
* Andy Samberg as Larry Daley, a night security guard and Amelia’s love interest.
* Ricky Gervais as Dr. McPhee, the curator at the Museum of Natural History and Larry's boss.
* Ed Oxenbould as Nick Daley, the son of Larry Daley.
* Selena Gomez as Linda Daley, Larry's wife at the end of the movie who looks like Amelia Earhart.
* Mindy Kaling as Docent
* George Foreman as Himself
* Shawn Levy as Infomercial Father
* Ed Helms (uncredited) as Larry Daley's assistant
* Jonah Hill (uncredited) as Brandon (pronounced "Brundon"), a security guard at the Smithsonian
=== Exhibits ===
* Steve Carell as Theodore Roosevelt, the wax statue of the 26th President of the United States.
** Carell also voices the bronze bust of Roosevelt.
* Mizuo Peck as Sacagawea, the polyurethane model of the Lemhi Shoshone woman who is Roosevelt's girlfriend.
* Selena Gomez as Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, and Larry's love interest.
* T. J. Miller (voice) as Jedediah, a cowboy minifigure.
* Seth Rogen (voice) as Octavius, a Roman soldier minifigure and Jedediah's best friend.
* Luke Evans as Kahmunrah, a pharaoh who is Ahkmenrah's older brother.
* Steve Buscemi as the voice of The Thinker, a famous statue 
* Mel Brooks as the voice of Abraham Lincoln, a statue of the 16th President of the United States.
* Nick Jonas as Ahkmenrah, a mummy of a pharaoh who is the benevolent younger brother of Kahmunrah.
* Christopher Guest as Ivan the Terrible, the historic Tsar of Russia who allies with Kahmunrah.
* Alain Chabat as Napoleon Bonaparte, the leader of the First French Empire who allies with Kahmunrah.
* Jon Bernthal as young Al Capone, a photographic standee of the gangster and founder of the Chicago Outfit who allies with Kahmunrah.
* Jack McBrayer as George Armstrong Custer, a military figure who Larry befriends.
* Patrick Gallagher as a wax model of Attila the Hun, the statue of the leader of the Huns.
* Brad Garrett (voice) as Easter Island Head
* Kerry van der Griend, Matthew Harisson, Rick Dobran as wax model of Neanderthal
* Randy Lee, Darryl Quon, Gerald Wong, and Paul Chih-Ping Cheng as wax model of Huns.
* Imagine Dragons as the Cherubs
* David Spade as Joey Motorola, a sailor who resides in the V-J Day in Times Square photograph.
* Alberta Mayne as Greta Zimmer Friedman (Kissing Nurse)
* Eugene Levy as Albert Einstein Bobbleheads
* Keith Powell as Tuskegee Airman #1
* Craig Robinson as Tuskegee Airman #2
* Clint Howard as Air and Space Mission Control Tech #1
* Matty Finochio as Air and Space Mission Control Tech #2
* John Requa as Orville Wright
* Glenn Ficarra as Wilbur Wright
* Caroll Spinney as Oscar the Grouch, the famous Sesame Street character that tries to ally with Kahmunrah only to be dismissed because he classified him as "vaguely grouchy."
* Thomas Morley as Darth Vader, the famous Star Wars character that tries to ally with Kahmunrah only to be turned away because he classified him as "dark."
* Crystal the Monkey as Dexter and Able
== Production ==
=== Development ===
Writers John Requa and Glenn Ficarra confirmed to Dark Horizons that they were writing a sequel to Night at the Museum, originally with the tentative title Another Night at the Museum. The writers said that "there'll be existing characters and plenty of new ones."
On August 9, 2013, Sony Pictures Animation announced that the sequel, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, would be release on September 25, 2015. Director Raja Gosnell and producer Jordan Kerner returned for the film. Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, T. J. Miller, Seth Rogen, Rob Delaney, Patrick Gallagher, Ed Oxenbould, Nick Jonas, Mizuo Peck, Brad Garrett and Steve Carell would return for the sequel.
=== Filming ===
The film was mostly filmed in Vancouver and Montreal with some scenes filmed in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. A scene was shot at the Lincoln Memorial on the night of June 21, 2014. Scenes were also shot at the American Museum of Natural History in New York on October 18 and 20, 2014. Filmmakers loaned the Smithsonian Institution props used in the movie which were displayed in the Smithsonian Castle including the pile of artifacts featured in the film. The Smithsonian also made a brochure available online and at museum visitor service desks outlining where to find artifacts. As of 2015, numerous artifacts which inspired the film were on display at Smithsonian Museums along the National Mall. Many of the artifacts are labeled with "Night at the Museum" logos. Gift shops at the Smithsonian also sell a replica of the Einstein Bobble-head, created specifically as a tie-in to the film.
== Music ==
Heitor Pereira would return the sequel. Relativity Music Group issued the soundtrack on September 22, 2015.
Additional Music
# "More Than a Woman" (by Bee Gees) – performed by Imagine Dragons as the cherubs as Larry and Amelia hide from Napoleon's army.
# "My Heart Will Go On" (by Celine Dion) – performed by Imagine Dragons as the cherubs after Larry and Amelia' kiss.
# "Lovebug" – performed by Imagine Dragons as the cherubs after Larry and Amelia' kiss.
# "Let's Groove" – performed by Earth, Wind & Fire; used in part during final scene before the end credits.
# "Fly with Me" – performed by Imagine Dragons; used in the end credits.
; Sample credits
* "Museum Open Late" incorporates excerpt of "Life in Technicolor" written by Coldplay