Disney is reportedly bringing back the Night at the Museum franchise with an animated movie for Disney+.
The DisInsider reports this animated Night at the Museum film is tentatively titled, Night At The Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again, with production expected to begin Nov. 2 in Los Angeles, CA as casting is underway. According to the site, Kahmunrah Rises Again "will center on the nervous and confidence-lacking Nick Daley, (the son of Ben Stiller's character Larry Daley in the 20th Century Fox live-action trilogy), who is hesitant to follow in his father's footsteps as the nightwatchman of a museum that comes to life at night."
While names like Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Hank Azaria aren't expected to reprise their roles from previous Night at the Museum movies, new actors will be brought into the fold to give certain characters a fresh take. Night At The Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again will reportedly bring back Night At The Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian's Kahmunrah (played by Azaria) as its central villain. The site goes on to list other returning characters, including the cowboy Jedediah (played by Wilson), the Roman Legionnaire, Octavius (played by Steve Coogan) and others.
Night at the Museum spawned a trilogy of feature films (2006's Night at the Museum, 2009's Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, and 2014's Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb) starring Ben Stiller as Larry Daley, a nightguard working at the American Museum of Natural History. Larry soon discovers that the rare exhibits of the museum come to life thanks to an ancient spell.
If an animated Night at the Museum project is indeed in development, it would join a host of revivals on the Disney subscription streaming platform. A Mighty Ducks reboot started filming in Vancouver earlier this year, Hilary Duff is reprising her role as Lizzie McGuire in a new series, the five Percy Jackson novels are being adapted into five seasons, and Home Alone and Cheaper by the Dozen are also being reimagined for Disney+.
With the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continuing to adversely impact the company, Disney has streamlined how it distributes content, with a restructuring to focus on streaming content under a new Media and Entertainment Distribution entity led by Kareem Daniel.
Source: The DisInsider