News
Smithsonian museum ready for its close up
By Robert Marich
May 19 2009 – The New York American Museum of Natural History logged a 20% hike in admissions that it attributed to being showcased in 2006’s Night at the Museum, which leaves the Smithsonian Institution to hope for a rub off from the next installment of the 20th Century Fox franchise.
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian opens Friday. The prior incarnation of the family adventure film franchise grossed a whopping $250.7 million in its 2006 U.S./Canada release. Both carry PG ratings.
Parts of the latest movie were filmed in the Smithsonian’s Air and Space wing, and also on the National Mall outside what is American’s national museum.
“Despite the Smithsonian's welcome, its appetite for having a big film crew crashing around the place was limited, so most of the movie was shot on a sound stage in Vancouver, Canada,” notes a USA Today article. “There, set designers built replicas of Smithsonian interiors, just as they did of the New York museum for the first film.”
The USA Today article – which leads the newspaper’s its Life section – is a publicity coup in itself, since it calls attention to movie magic and a historical education aspect to the fantasy film. Given it a wholesome alternative to violent, ear pounding PG-13 films aimed at the youth audience, parents will be pushing their kids to Battle of the Smithsonian and tie-in promotions have lined up.
For example, McDonald’s restaurants have a tie-in promotion with the Battle of the Smithsonian. The museum itself reportedly got a $500,000 location fee for allowing filming on its premises and a cut of movie merchandise specifically tied to the Smithsonian itself.
For full text, click link below:
www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2009-05-18-smithsonian-museum_N.htm
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