#Natm3 script

[caterpillarinacave]

All I want for Christmas is a copy of the original NATM3 script

[girlblocker]

autistic swag has me googling script download websites

[leseigneurdufeu]

ok new theory:

In Night at the Museum 3, Ahk's father doesn't mention already having a child when Ahk was born.

In Night at the Museum 2, Kahmenrah says he's a descendant of the gods on his mother's side. He also implies that Ahk's parents and his are the same.

Although incest was common in ancient egypt's royal families, if Merenkahre and Shepseheret were close relatives, it wouldn't have been only on his mother's side that Kahmenrah was a demi-god.

In NatM2 however Kahmenrah and his guards are not mummies but wax statues.

NatM2's original script states Kahmenrah murdered Ahk to get the trone.

There are fictional characters such as Darth Vader in the Smithsonian who appear in the movie.

The tablet is made to keep the family united after death in Natm3 but in Natm2 Kahmunrah uses it to open gates to hell.

Ahkmenrah never mentions Kahmenrah, and never meets him onscreen because he was not at the smithsonian.

Hence three possible theories:

Kahmenrah was the first born but his parents loved Ahk more and gave Ahk the trone, the tablet, etc. He murdered his brother and took the throne. That's widely accepted as Canon.

Kahmenrah was adopted by Merenkahre but was Shepseheret son from another marriage or their orphaned nephew (son of Merenkahre's sister, hence the "on my mother's side") they took in. He was heir presumptive to the throne but Ahkmenrah's birth set him in second place. There is no favoritism per se in the decision to make Ahk the next pharaoh, he was just first in line. Kahmenrah did kill him out of jealousy and assumed the throne. Because he murdered Ahk, or because he despised his family, he was not buried with them.

Kahmenrah as we see him in NatM2 is a wax figure, not because his body/sarcophagus was never found but because he never existed. He and his guards are on display as characters from a egyptian peplum, inspired by the life of Ahkmenrah but in which his mother is the pharaoh, not his father ("on my mother's side" and because girl power ig), in which he has an older brother cheated from the throne and in which appears the gates to hell (the reason Lincoln could smack all those hawk-guards so easily is because it's a prop not a real gate to hell) that can be opened with the tablet (because people didn't know what it was when it was found so for them it was just "iconic artefact related to Pharaoh Ahkmenrah")

[caterpillarinacave]

I would so many things to get my hands on copy of that script

[girlblocker]

we need to get really annoying about jedediah and octavius again. spn people need to learn what it feels like to not be able to see any posts other than someone being insane on the dash <3 love and light <3333

naur ive been slacking on the natm posting recently... what has happened to me

[girlblocker]

Notes on Shawn Levy’s Night at the Museum 3 Director’s Commentary

I had a difficult time getting this one because it’s only on the Blu-ray edition of the DVD. Oops.

Once again, Levy and Stiller waited until they had a good story to make a good movie. There was years of development on the script. The desert was filmed somewhere in Canada. Set was built. They worked to combine practical effects and real locations with special effects. Levy describes his pasts with some of the actors from intro scenes.

Museum beginning: Levy discussing the visual effects work in the museum and how prep for comedy movies DOES have to stay fluid because of ideas that would happen on day of filming.

The Jedediah and Octavius watching cat scene was in early drafts, the idea of Jed & Oct interacting with contemporary technology was funny to Levy. It took Levy three movies to realize that the magic of Jed & Octavius was the chemistry of Coogan & Wilson. There are no close ups of Jed or Oct in this movie bc Levy says the magic is in the two of them together, except during the tripping guests scene.

He discusses Robin Williams, how warm and funny he was and how devoted he was to what he did. The Laaa scenes were done by moving the camera and not ‘cheating’ with over the shoulder shots, bonus featurette on it. Levy says he thinks the extras on this disk are very cool.

Levy talks about the CGI and mentions that it is a digital monkey doing the performance stunts. Williams did the Teddy glitches himself. Levy loved how Wilson was always committed to the ‘maniacal ferocity of this little cowboy’, hes never asked him to beef up his energy for Jedediah. He discusses the surreality/absurdism in movies. In the scene of Laaa imitating Larry, Levy would play Laaa during first during first take, then Stiller would imitate Levy as Laaa.

Levy discusses Nicky, how Nicky anchors the surreal events of the movie in the father-son relationship. They made a conscious decision to return to the family themes from the first movie for NATM3. The movie has themes of letting go, but they were also saying goodbye to the franchise (not planning on natm4). He talks about the filming in New York and the support from the institution of the real-life Museum of Natural History. The archive scene was filmed in actual museum archives. Andrea Martin suggested the goofy wig and glasses.

The old guards add to the movie. Rooney died a few months after filming natm3 and Levy knew he’d have to do it in wheelchair, liked the idea of him being in the wheelchair but still wanting to pick a fight. Levy complements van Dyke’s performance here as more than just a comedy actor.

The Larry/McPhee scenes take a long time to film, they improvise a lot there and there is extended features. Levy discusses allowing for others’ ideas and surprises as a director. They filmed in London for a week, the British Museum allowed them access.

Rebel Wilson was his first and only idea for Tilly (Levy’s daughters are fans), and he wanted a similar vibe to the Brundon scene in natm2 with a young, offbeat guard. She’s amazing as improviser as well. Levy couldn’t film the McPhee scene where they wanted to due to snow and had to walk around looking for a location.

Often with Ben, they will do a few takes and often ask for one more take not knowing what they will do, just to explore. Improvization requires a good script. Stiller is reactive, committed to Laaa. The Laaa/Larry imitation scene by the door was complicated to film. The ‘stay’ motif for Laaa evolved from when Ben got into character at the makeup text.

He talks about the visual effects of Marbles of the Parthenon. Levy fought the budget for the animal heads on the wall. Levy was once again playing off camera characters not yet CGI-ed and doing the sounds himself. While choreographing the fight scene, stunt guys would just make up a battle with wooden swords. Dan Stevens auditioned, Levy didn’t know who he was, then auditioned with Ben Stiller, which went so well he immediately got the part. Lancelot did a Ben Stiller imitation for Erik. These movies make a lot of references & jokes Levy knows a lot of people won’t get. Ahkmenrah’s ‘scarabs in the sinai’ joke was scripted, ‘too dark?’ was suggested by Levy.

People respond to the subjectivity of the little guys (Jed & Oct), reccuring joke of showing close shot of them and then wide shot showing how small/insignificant what is happening around them is. They shoot the whole movie and then Coogan and Wilson show up for a week at the end of the filming. Levy would have to give story to Coogan and Wilson of what had just happened like ‘oh, you’re in a ventilation shaft, you’re embarrassed because you asked to hold his hand’, and then the three of them would brainstorm.

Next scene was shot in the actual museum at three in the morning, walking past priceless antiquities. The British museum sent Levy suggestions of things it might be fun to bring to life. Levy says Pompeii became a central sequence in the movie and marketing. Pompeii was all greenscreen. Levy saw Geruda in the museum and liked it, Robin Williams voiced it.

Stiller improvised the joke about Nicky not having finished his Bar Mitzvah notes, liked the tonal juxtaposition between talking about writing Bar Mitzvah notes while talking about mythical snake demon. Editing the Xianglu scene was difficult, so much going on: tablet corroding, exhibits glitching, Lancelot fighting, Xianglu waking. In the script, Pompeii and Xianglu were separate, but Levy decided to intercut them. Ben Stiller did not use wires jumping onto Xianglu with defibrillator. He used an Olympic trampoline. Wilson improvised ‘that wasn’t necessary�� after the Dexter piss scene. They built an actual oversized iPhone for the Jedediah and Octavius selfie.

Levy describes Williams as amazing, both comedically and in drama. He made an effort to cast every role as someone good. Some adult-toned humor. All the shots of the tablet corroding was digital. “Ben Stiller is a great runner.” Lancelot reveal casting shadow over tablet.

Levy describes Octavius’ ‘his eyes are very blue’ line as the “first of several very edgy improvs by Octavius, who is in some way attracted to Lancelot.” Many scenes where Owen Wilson and Coogan would try stuff, and his “weird man-crush on Lancelot became a bit of a runner”. Levy’s quotes, not mine.

The sequence in the painting was complicated because of the multiple gravity scenes using real actors. Levy used to be terrified of complicated films, turned down NATM multiple times. “If a movie isn’t a little bit scary to you, you probably shouldn’t do it.”

The Tilly, Laaa, Larry scene was shot outside of real British Museum. Scene of Larry talking in “hyper-therapized” lingo to a Neanderthal, funny because of surreality of man therapizing himself through doppelganger who doesnt understand what he’s saying. Atilla’s freakout was all improvized. The Trafalgar Square lions scene was rainy but allowed them to make the lions more textural. Stiller doesn’t blink at all as Laaa in the Tilly scene. Camelot was shot at exterior of a real theater.

Hugh Jackman cameo, Jackman did not ask to see the script or anything, just agreed. Stiller had “Huge Ackman” joke. Audience was edited in after. “No matter what complex, challenging work we do, kids think of it as ‘the movie with the monkey’”. Levy thought of the image on the bus early on, first movies never explored the exhibits in the real world. The kids on the bus are Ben Stiller’s kids. Jackman’s involvement in movie was kept secret until opening.

The roof was a set on Vancouver, didn’t know how the melted nose scene would play. Usually the third act is the big battle, other versions of the script where there was a fight between Larry and Lancelot, but ultimately Levy felt that there was no lack of setpieces, and instead chose to go with the rooftop scene.

Lancelot struggling with the fact that he’s not real, doesn’t even exist, relation to the idea of letting go. Lancelot of letting go of him not being real, Larry letting go of his son as a kid, his museum family, the exhibits faring very badly. Levy did vocals as Dexter was dying. People appreciated the emotionality of final film as much as the comedy. Levy likes the image of solitude of Lancelot after he gives tablet back.

Levy says these comedies won’t get cited for the artistry, family films are treated dismissively in terms of recognition of the craftsmanship. He talks about how they were filming goodbyes to museum family while saying goodbye for real. Rebel & Stiller committing to forbidden love between Tilly & Laaa. Had to send hair person to pharmacy to get more scrunchies for Laaa’s hair.

Callback to instruction manual from first movie. Gallagher (Atilla) came up with the ‘my friend’ line. In Stiller’s monologue to Dexter, Crystal put her hand on Stiller’s arm without being instructed. Stiller improvised the post-kiss “yeah, i felt that was there” and follow up kiss. Emotional scene between Teddy and Larry was scripted. On general themes, Levy talks about the romanticism of museums and of New York. Some versions of films ended with Larry walking away from the museum (without the scene of the tablet returning on tour), but audiences wouldn’t accept the exhibits not coming back. They craved the magic continuing.

Levy believed this was the final chapter of this franchise. The song “to be real” seems fitting lyrically, McPhee witnessing that the magic is real. Levy played the music loud, had everyone dance, leaving the franchise on celebratory note. The characters are living beyond franchise into infinite possibility and future. Scripted dialogue jokes at the end of Lancelot. Final ending echoes shot from the first movie but with Larry outside. Levy knew Larry wouldn’t go inside the museum, but wanted the audience to see he knows the magic continues. Owen and Coogan were on ‘weird greenscreen turning table’ on record scene.

Overall, this commentary was good like the previous ones. Additional bonus features also go into detail about the specifics of some filming, like a feature about Laaa and how the scene in the painting was filmed. I was again impressed at the descriptions of how much in this movie was improvised. A lot of the themes of it being a goodbye are less interesting now given the production of Night at the Museum 4.