Reporting from Washington — The Washington Mall glistened in the romantic glow of hundreds of old-fashioned street lanterns on a cool May evening. The unusually serene ambience was courtesy of "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian," which filmed a few days of exteriors in the nation's capital last year before moving on to shoot in Vancouver.
The sequel moves out of New York's Museum of Natural History, the setting for the 2006 Ben Stiller blockbuster about a hapless night watchman who discovers that the exhibits come to life after dark. The Smithsonian Institution's 19 facilities allow for exponentially more museum mayhem.
FOR THE RECORD
"Imagine That": A photo caption in today's Calendar for the movie "Imagine That" misidentifies the girl who plays Eddie Murphy's daughter as Bobb'e J. Thompson. She is Yara Shahidi.
Summer Sneaks: 1. A photo caption last Sunday for the film "Imagine That" misidentified the girl who plays Eddie Murphy's daughter as Bobb'e J. Thompson. She is Yara Shahidi. 2. A photo caption for the film "The Hangover" said the film would open June 12. It opens June 5.
Summer Sneaks: 1. A photo caption last Sunday for the film "Imagine That" misidentified the girl who plays Eddie Murphy's daughter as Bobb'e J. Thompson. She is Yara Shahidi. 2. A photo caption for the film "The Hangover" said the film would open June 12.
In "Smithsonian," which opens May 22, Stiller's Larry Daley has become a successful gadget entrepreneur who's lost his joie de vivre -- until he gets pulled into another round of action with a Who's Who of historic villains, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Air and Space Museum and a romance with Amelia Earhart.
"Obviously she's a wax figure, not that it stops most people," Stiller joked on set. "We don't want to get too much into the psychodrama of that. It will scare off the children."
Earhart is, in fact, a wax figure brought to life in the form of Amy Adams through the magic of an ancient Egyptian tablet.
How pleased is Stiller to have a real, live actress to play against? For the first movie, he was perennially playing in green-screen mode, pretending to be chased by T-rex bones, interacting with the Easter Island head Dum Dum Gum Gum, and acting opposite a couple of toothpicks used to represent the miniaturized Owen Wilson and Steve Coogan characters, all to be inserted later.
"There is someone to go through an experience with," enthused Stiller, who seemed enchanted by Adams' high-octane "energy and can-do attitude."
On this night, a cloud of wound-up energy trailed Stiller. In his Smithsonian guard uniform (stolen, according to the plot), the actor lurked around -- all business.
Like many comics, Stiller evinces "underwhelming funniness in real life," said returning director Shawn Levy. "What I've found -- and I'm sure there are stars who violate this rule -- the people who make it really big time take it very seriously and work insanely hard. The frivolity we all love on screen is not true in real life. Ben is diligent and committed but not frivolous." Or, Levy cracked, "I know I never have to worry because Ben is doing the worrying for me."
