News > Avatar Gets Moved, Night at the Museum 2 Takes its Place

Written by David Morgan

Bad news for good movie lovers and good news for bad movie lovers. 20th Century Fox has moved its schedule around so that Night at the Museum 2: Escape from the Smithsonian will open on May 22, 2009, while James Cameron's 3-D sci-fi adventure film Avatar has been moved from that date to a December 18, 2009 release.

Variety says that one of the reasons for the switch has to do with giving Cameron more time for the effects-heavy post-production process. Also, it will give time for more 3-D screens to be installed across the country and abroad.

Shawn Levy's sequel to the mega-hit Night at the Museum is reportedly the first motion picture to shoot inside the Smithsonian. Reese Witherspoon has been approached to play Amelia Earhart, one of many historical figures expected to appear in the sequel. Ben Stiller will star again, and the screenplay was written by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant (Lt. Dangle and Deputy Junior from Comedy Central's Reno 911!) with a rewriter performed by Scott Frank (Minority Report).

Fox also announced that they would be producing Ice Age 3 in digital 3-D, with plenty of time to go before its July 1, 2009 release date.