"Smithsonian Hopes To Cash In On Stiller Movie"

Entertaining piece on last Thursday's "Morning Edition" about the tie-in of the Smithsonian and Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian:

With the release of Ben Stiller's Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, officials at the Smithsonian Institution are hoping for a financial boost. It stands to benefit from the major Hollywood blockbuster in many ways: from having its name planted on cereal boxes to getting a percentage of the box office.

Movies impact culture. When the first Night at the Museum came out, business at the New York museum which was featured in the movie went up by over 20%. As Sideways grew in popularity, so did Pinot Noir -- while Merlots took a big hit in sales.

With Museum 2 winning the weekend box office battle with $70M, you have to figure that the Smithsonian folks will be celebrating today.

BTW, there's a nifty bit of business in the NPR report. In Museum 2 (which I saw and analyze later this week), there is a short scene featuring Oscar the Grouch from "Sesame Street" alongside Darth Vader. I'm not kidding. Anyway in the NPR report, they talk about how Lucas Films sent along Lord Vader's personal 'handler,' whose main responsibility was to say things like, "Lord Vader wouldn't do that."

Only in Hwood.