Night at the Museum Nick Franchise Overview
The Night at the Museum franchise is a family adventure series produced by 20th Century Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, with the original 2006 film based on a screenplay by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon Forbes. The series follows Larry Daley, a night security guard at the American Museum of Natural History, whose charges come to life after dark. The first three films collectively grossed over $1.4 billion worldwide, with the original 2006 film earning $574 million globally and ranking among the highest-grossing live-action family films of its year Box Office Mojo.
The franchise includes Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009), Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014), and the animated Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again (2022), which premiered on Disney+ Disney+. The 2022 entry was produced by 20th Century Animation and directed by Matt Danner, shifting the format from live-action to 3D animation while retaining the core museum premise. The franchise is credited with boosting family film attendance and inspiring themed exhibits and merchandise partnerships with natural history museums globally.
Box Office and Streaming Performance
Global Box Office Data
Night at the Museum (2006) opened at number one at the U.S. box office and finished its theatrical run with $250 million domestically and $574 million worldwide, according to The Numbers The Numbers. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) earned $177 million domestically and $413 million globally, making it the second-highest-grossing entry in the series Box Office Mojo. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014) closed the live-action trilogy with $113 million domestic and $363 million worldwide, bringing the combined global total of the three films to approximately $1.35 billion.
Disney+ and Streaming Metrics
Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again (2022) was released directly on Disney+ and generated significant viewership within its first week of availability, though Disney does not publish granular subscriber viewing figures Disney+. The animated film received mixed critical reception, with a Metacritic score of 46 and a Rotten Tomatoes audience score above 60%, reflecting continued fan interest in the franchise. Disney leverages the Night at the Museum IP across its streaming and theme park divisions, including periodic immersive experiences at Disney World