Night At The Museum Movies In Order (& Where To Watch Them)

Watching the Night at the Museum movies in order is a fun and easy movie marathon for people of all ages who love museums, magic, and the many impressive actors who populate these films. Ben Stiller's family movies can be hit or miss, with his unique sense of humor and tone not always finding the right footing. When he gets it right, however, he really gets it right, and while there are plenty of issues with the Night at the Museum franchise, the idea behind the films is just too good and endlessly mineable for ideas and movies.

A night security guard working at the American Museum of Natural History is such a wonderfully fantastic premise that any awkward character or plot contrivances can be easily forgiven for the pure fun and joy of the franchise. It's a surprisingly profitable franchise, and the first three Night at the Museum movies earned a combined $1.35 billion at the box office (via BoxOfficeMojo), and, while no film except the fourth one has a Rotten Tomatoes score above 50%, they've managed to become a staple of family movie pop culture, with more films on the horizon.

The Night At The Museum Movies & TV Shows In Order (& Where To Watch)

The Night At The Museum Movies Are Available On Disney+

For those looking to watch the Night at the Museum movies in order, the release date of the films matches the chronological order of the movies. The first film, Night at the Museum, shows how Larry Daley (Stiller) discovers that the exhibits come to life every night. The second film, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, takes place three years after the first film. Larry has left his museum job to start his own company but is brought back into the fantastical world when the exhibits are threatened by the removal of their life-giving Tablet of Ahkmenrah.

The third film, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, takes place five years after the second film, and Larry has to travel to London to stop a curse that threatens to destroy the Tablet once and for all. The fourth film, Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again, is an animated sequel to the third film, taking place years after the third movie. Now, Nick Daley (Joshua Bassett), Larry's son, is old enough to take his turn as night guard at the Museum of Natural History.

The first three films in the Night at the Museum franchise were produced by 21st Century Fox, but after The Walt Disney Company purchased 21st Century Fox in 2019, the films fell under the umbrella of Disney. The fourth movie, and all future ones, are products of Walt Disney Pictures.

This means that every Night at the Museum movie is now available to stream on Disney+, and won't be leaving the platform anytime soon. The two basic Disney+ plans are Duo Basic for $10.99/month and Duo Premium for $19.99/month, both of which come with Hulu. The major difference is that Premium removes ads and allows downloads.

Night At The Museum (2006)

The Film That Started The Franchise

The first Night at the Museum premiered in December 2006 and introduced many characters and exhibits who would go on to have major parts in the franchise, including Larry, Cecil Fredericks (Dick Van Dyke), Reginald (Bill Cobbs), Nick Daley (Jake Cherry), Dr. McPhee (Ricky Gervais), Theodore Roosevelt (Robin Williams), Attila the Hun (Patrick Gallagher), Ahkmenrah (Rami Malek), Octavius (Steve Coogan), Sacagawea (Mizuo Peck), Jedediah (Owen Wilson), Easter Island Head (Brad Garrett), and Crystal the Monkey as Dexter.

These characters would go on to be critical pieces in one or more movies in the franchise. Night at the Museum has a 42% on Rotten Tomatoes and earned $574 million at the box office (via BoxOfficeMojo). Rambunctious and magical, young children will love Night at the Museum and if older viewers can get past some of the choppy special effects and give themselves over to the fun, they'll be glad they watched it.

Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian (2009)

Amy Adams Elevates The Sequel

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian came out in May 2009 and earned a 43% on Rotten Tomatoes and $413 million at the box office (via BoxOfficeMojo). The sequel sees Larry traveling to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. when it's announced the AMNH exhibits are being moved there. Larry and the friendly exhibits battle against Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria), Ahkmenrah's evil older brother who intends to use the Tablet to conquer the world.

Amy Adams appears in the film as Amelia Earhart and lifts the movie with her charm and energy, which elevates it past some of the messy slapstick that doesn't always work. Most of the main cast from the first film return, including some newcomers like Christopher Guest as Ivan the Terrible, Jon Bernthal as Al Capone, and Bill Hader as George Armstrong Custer.

Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb (2014)

The Last Museum Movie With The Original Actors

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb premiered in December 2014 and earned a 48% on Rotten Tomatoes and $363 million at the box office (via BoxOfficeMojo). The third film in the franchise before it was soft-rebooted, Secret of the Tomb sees Larry traveling to London and the British Museum to return the Tablet of Ahkmenrah and have its power restored, so the exhibits can continue coming to life.

It still has all the goofy slapstick and jokes of the previous two movies, but there's a distinct sense of melancholy, not least of which is due to the passing of Robin Williams, who died before the film was released, and to whom the movie is dedicated. It signals the end of an era, and it's not a surprise that it took eight more years for a sequel to be made.

Night At The Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again (2022)

The First Fully Animated Night At The Museum Movie

Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again premiered in December 2022 on Disney+ and was the first animated feature film produced by Atomic Cartoons. The film takes place years after Secret of the Tomb and now sees Nick Daley (voiced by Joshua Bassett) ready to take on the night guard job at the American Museum of Natural History just in time for Pharaoh Kahmunrah to return, seeking his revenge against the Daley family. Kahmunrah Rises Again is the first fully animated movie in the franchise and has a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Future Of The Night At The Museum Franchise

Writer Thomas Lennon Teased There May Be New Animated Features To Come

While there are currently no official plans for the next installment of the Night at the Museum franchise, Thomas Lennon, who co-wrote the first two films and voiced Theodore Roosevelt in Kahmurah Rises Again, talked about the next steps of the franchise (via ComicBook),

"The new Disney+ [movie] is also really funny. [It's] really great. It opens up a lot of new possibilities for it. I"m a pretty big Night at the Museum fan."

While nothing else has been said about a fifth movie, Lennon is correct about the benefits of being under the auspices of Disney+ and working in an animated format. Producing a new Night at the Museum movie should not prove too difficult if there's enough interest. Hopefully, they'll keep the timeline chronological, so the simple Night at the Museum watch order doesn't get too out of whack.