Third "Night at the Museum' Film Gets A Lousy Title

While fans eagerly wait to find out if Star Wars: The Ancient Fear is a real thing or just another badly-sourced rumor, a different franchise has just found its official title. The difference is nobody was waiting on pins and needles for this one. Ben Stiller's third Night At the Museum film has been subtitled 'Secret of the Tomb'. A bland title for a bland comedy that will make $500M.

Directed by the returning Shawn Levy, the action will supposedly take place in London at the British Museum, but so far there has been no confirmation of the plot cooked up by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. Robin Williams, Rebel Wilson, Ricky Gervais, Dan Stevens, Owen Wilson, and Ben Kingsley will co-star.

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb opens December 19th.

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Ben Kingsley Joins 'Night at the Museum 3'

You may not have asked for it, but a ticket is being punched for Night at the Museum 3, and even if turns out to be terrible the cast should be a lot of fun. Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, Steve Coogan, and Ricky Gervais are confirmed to return, and now the latest new addition is none other than Sir Ben Kingsley. Can you guess who he'll be playing?

Deadline reports Kingsley will play an Egyptian pharaoh (of course) in the London-set film taking place at the British museum. He joins other Rebel Wilson and Dan Stevens as new faces to the franchise which has grossed nearly $1B so far and will probably go on forever.

Directed by Shawn Levy, Night at the Museum 3 opens December 19th 2014.

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'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' Sequel and 'Poltergeist' Get Release Dates

20th Century Fox isn't wasting any time with their Planet of the Apes franchise, already securing Matt Reeves to return for a sequel to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Now the studio has gone ahead and given the film an official release date of July 29th 2016. Of course there's no word on the plot or who will return (although we have to assume Andy Serkis, right?), but it's good to know they're expecting 'Dawn' to be a smash.

Fox has also given a February 13th 2015 date to the Poltergeist remake, directed by Gil Kenan and starring Rosemarie DeWitt, Sam Rockwell, Nicholas Braun, Jared Harris, and Kyle Catlett.

The next Nicholas Sparks adaptation, The Longest Ride, has been set for April 3rd 2015, while Night at the Museum 3 has been bumped up a few days to December 19th 2014.

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Rebel Wilson Joins 'Night at the Museum 3'

The Night at the Museum movies have always surrounded Ben Stiller with a great cast of comedic superstars, and it looks like the third film will be no different. Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, and Ricky Gervais are all expected back, and now the latest addition is Bridesmaids and Pitch Perfect star, Rebel Wilson.

Wilson will be the other new addition alongside Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens as Lancelot, and Skyler Gisondo as Stiller's grown-up son. Wilson will play a British security guard as the film moves from New York City to the London's British Museum. Other than that we don't know anything about the plot cooked up by writers Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant, David Guion & Michael Handelman.

Directed by Shawn Levy, Night at the Museum 3 opens this Christmas. [Deadline]

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James Franco is 'The Fixer', Ricky Gervais Returns for 'Night at the Museum 3', Daniel Wu Joins 'Warcraft'

* Ian Olds scored an indie smash a few years with his documentary, Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi, winning Best New Documentary Filmmaker in the process. He's been busy working with James Franco on a number of his smaller films and on the Faulkner adaptation As I Lay Dying, and now the two will collaborate on another feature, titled The Fixer. Franco will take one of the leads as an unstable hot-tub craftsman named Lindsay in the story of Osman, "an Afghan journalist exiled from his war-torn country to a small bohemian community in Northern California. When he attempts to turn his menial job on the local police blotter into “Afghan-style” coverage of local crime, he gets drawn into the backwoods of this small town." [TheWrap]

* After the first two films nearly brought in $1B it was only a matter of time before a third Night at the Museum was ordered up, and that's exactly what we're getting. Ben Stiller and Robin Williams are confirmed to return for the sequel, along with director Shawn Levy, with a script by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant that takes the living monuments to London. Now Deadline is reporting Ricky Gervais is also set to return as Stiller's former boss, Dr. McPhee. Night at the Museum 3 is set to open on Christmas Day 2014.

* Daniel Wu (Europe Report) and Clancy Brown (Sleepy Hollow) are the latest additions to Duncan Jones' Warcraft, joining Paula Patton, Travis Fimmel, Ben Foster, Toby Kebbell, Dominic Cooper, and Rob Kazinsky in the video game adaptation. No word on their roles as much of the story is still being kept under wraps. Warcraft powers on March 11th 2016.

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Robin Williams in Talks to Return for 'Night at the Museum 3'

The two previous Night at the Museum movies have earned nearly $1B combined, an astronomical amount by any measure and all but guaranteed we'd see at least one more. But ever since Night at the Museum 3 was green lit some months ago, with Shawn Levy back to direct and Ben Stiller reprising his role of museum security guard Larry Daley, we've heard practically nothing about the film's progress. Well now we know at least one of the many historical figures who will be returning, and even a small window into the plot.

Robin Williams, whose CBS sitcom The Crazy Ones just received a full-season order, is in talks to play Teddy Roosevelt for the third time in the franchise. Like the other exhibits at the museum, Roosevelt springs to life when night falls and the facility closes its doors, serving as Larry's friend and occasional mentor.  In terms of where the action will take place, THR says it will be set in London, so they must be part of a traveling exhibit or something along those lines. Bleeding Cool expands on the idea a little bit by suggesting it will take place at the British Musuem, and that the story will include Larry's college-aged son, Nick.

At this point it's unknown if other co-stars such as Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, and Steve Coogan will be making an appearance, but apparently Nick Frost and Simon Pegg are being looked at as new additions. Don't think anyone will about that, but what historical duo would they be best suited to play?

Filming begins this February and we should see Night at the Museum 3 in theaters on Christmas Day 2014.

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Ben Stiller and Shawn Levy returning for 'Night at the Museum 3'

As a whole, the two Night at the Museum movies wound up totaling about $1B worldwide, and that's despite them not being much other than Ben Stiller and his friends dressing up in silly costumes. So it's a bit of a surprise that it's taken this long for a threequel to finally be announced, but that time is now, and it looks like the whole gang is getting back together.

Talks for a third film had been mentioned back in 2010, but now 20th Century Fox has finally confirmed it, with Stiller and director Shawn Levy both returning. A Christmas Day 2014 release is planned for what will probably be a family-friendly adventure full of Stiller's buddies playing historical figures (Robin Williams back as Teddy Roosevelt, I hope?) as statues that spring to life. I don't think anybody's expecting too much deviation from the formula.All I ask is that they bring back Amy Adams and her Amelia Earhart hotpants.

Stiller will be hoping for a solid bounce back from The Watch, which stunk up the joint something fierce last summer.

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