<Tr> <Th> Budget </Th> <Td> $110 million </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $574.5 million </Td> </Tr> <P> Night at the Museum is a 2006 American fantasy - comedy film directed by Shawn Levy and written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, based on the 1993 children's book of the same name by Croatian illustrator Milan Trenc . The film stars Ben Stiller as Larry Daley, a divorced father who applies for a job as a night watchman at New York City's American Museum of Natural History and subsequently discovers that the exhibits, animated by a magical Egyptian artifact, come to life at night . </P> <P> It was released on December 22, 2006 by 20th Century Fox . The first installment in the Night at the Museum trilogy, the film was a box office success despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, grossing over $574 million . </P>

Where does night at the museum take place