‘Night at the Museum’ Reboot in Development with Shawn Levy Producing
Tripper Clancy is on board to write a script for a fresh take on the exhibits-coming-to-life franchise for Levy’s 21 Laps company and 20th Century Studios.
Ben Stiller in 'Night at the Museum'. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Preview:
- Tripper Clancy is writing a re-imagining of the ‘Night at the Museum’ movies.
- Original director Shawn Levy is aboard to produce.
- There is no cast attached yet.
We’ve gotten used to reboots, remakes and re-imaginings of older movies. But apparently “older” now also means 2006. Pardon us while we crumble to dust.
Yet it’s true: 20th Century Studios, the Disney arm that represents all the titles inherited when the Mouse House merged with/swallowed up 20th Century Fox, is now putting a ‘Night at the Museum’ update into development, hiring writer Tripper Clancy to start work on a script.
Per Deadline, Shawn Levy, who directed and produced the three original ‘Museum’ movies (more on them below) is attached to produce this new one via his 21 Laps company, but we have a feeling he’ll hand the directing duties over to someone else now, since he’s currently busy putting a ‘Star Wars’ movie together in addition to the many other projects he has bubbling away in development.
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What was the story of ‘Night at the Museum’?
Ben Stiller in 'Night at the Museum'. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
The original franchise had writers Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon adapting the 1993 children’s book by Milan Trenc, where a night watchman at a natural history museum sees his job descend into chaos when exhibits come to life after dark.
Levy directed and Ben Stiller starred in three films, each of which was a hit at the global box office: 2006’s ‘Night at the Museum’ earned more than $574 million, 2009’s ‘Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian’ took in $413 million, and 2014’s ‘Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb’ made $363 million.
Supporting cast over the course of the trilogy included Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Amy Adams, Hank Azaria, Dan Stevens, and Rebel Wilson.
Following Disney’s acquisition of Fox in 2019, the studio moved to expand the franchise with ‘Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again’, an animated movie produced by Levy for Disney+, which premiered in 2022.
What will the new ‘Night at the Museum’ be about?
(L to R) Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller in 'Night at the Museum'. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
There are zero details about what the new movie will feature, beyond Deadline reporting that it’ll be set at a museum with all-new characters. So unless he cameos, Stiller seems unlikely to be on the cast roster.
Clancy has worked with 21 Laps and Netflix as co-executive producer of the series ‘I Am Not Okay With This’, as well as in developing ‘Bolivar’, a TV series based on the beloved children’s book alongside Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon.
He’s also been behind Roku series ‘Die Hart’, which stars Kevin Hart.
When will the new ‘Night at the Museum’ be in theaters?
With the project in its developmental infancy, no one is saying anything about a release date yet.
You have to imagine the studio and Levy want to get this one right before pushing ahead with scheduling.
'Star Wars: Starfighter's director Shawn Levy at Star Wars Celebration 2025. Photo: Lucasfilm.
Movies in the 'Night at the Museum' Franchise:
- 'Night at the Museum' (2006)
- 'Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian' (2009)
- 'Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb' (2014)
- 'Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again' (2022)
Buy 'Night at the Museum' Movies on Amazon
