A popular Ben Stiller sequel just left Disney Plus. The beginning of October has seen various 20th Century Fox movies being pulled – hopefully temporarily – from the Mouse House’s streaming service. Unlike other platforms, D+ doesn’t reveal beforehand which titles are leaving its library so subscribers have to keep a close eye on which films are still available on the site. For instance, 2009’s Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is no longer able to be streamed.
As What’s On Disney Plus has pointed out, the second installment in the Night at the Museum franchise disappeared from Disney Plus on October 1st. It’s common for Fox films to vanish from the platform due to pre-existing licensing agreements made with other services prior to the advent of D+. Disney is typically keen to keep all its assets in one place, though, so expect this one to return to the site at some point.
Following 2006’s franchise-starter, Battle of the Smithsonian brings back Stiller as Larry Daley, the night watchman who befriends the museum exhibits that come to life after closing time. Following the first film being set in New York’s Museum of Natural History, the sequel sees the exhibits transferred to Washington’s Smithsonian Institute. Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, Rami Malek and the rest of the gang from the original all return alongside Stiller.
New additions include Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart, Christopher Guest as Ivan the Terrible and Jon Bernthal as Al Capone. This second entry was followed by threequel Secret of the Tomb in 2014. This was the last Night at the Museum movie Fox made before the Disney buyout, but the new studio is working on an animated spinoff, Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again, focusing on Larry’s son Nick following in his dad’s footsteps. As the title reveals, it will also feature the villain from Smithsonian (played by Hank Azaria). Look out for that on Disney Plus next year.
