Farewell to Robin Williams' magic in 'Museum'

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb was always going to be about farewells.

Director Shawn Levy and star Ben Stiller had agreed to make a third installment (opening Thursday in select cities and Friday nationwide) of the highly popular movie franchise about exhibits magically coming to life at New York's American Museum of Natural History. Then they would close the book on the characters and films for good.

But the emotional farewell to the museum's most enchanting exhibit, Robin Williams' Teddy Roosevelt, took an unexpected turn when Williams took his own life on Aug. 11, months after filming wrapped. Museum now marks Williams' final appearance in a major studio-produced film.

"It's tremendously, poignantly ironic that the movie's central theme is about letting go of something you love,'' Levy says. "I never expected it would also be about letting go of this actor we all love."

Levy and Stiller had bonded over getting Williams for 2006's Night at the Museum, agreeing that no one else could carry the Roosevelt bombast and the required sensitivity.

"We knew no one could take the big swings like Robin Williams," Levy says. "And there was always something in his big blue eyes that was a little heartbreaking."

Williams' Roosevelt remained a key character in 2009's Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, and Levy knew he needed Williams to play a central role in the finale. The director built and rebuilt the film schedule to work around Williams' commitments for his TV series The Crazy Ones.

The payoff was immediate in scenes where the exhibits go haywire. "I told Robin I wanted him to do some weird stuff, and he got the twinkle in his eye and said, 'Leave it to me, boss.' I would just roll the camera and let that guy go. He's doing accents, voices, fast-forwarding his body. He did what no one can do like him."

Night shoots in London's British Museum showed Williams' grateful side. Rami Malek, who plays Ahkmenrah, says it was the Roosevelt-attired Williams who made sure everyone appreciated the historic setting.

"Robin truly brought it all to our attention; he was so inspired and taken aback by this private viewing," Malek says. "To be reading the Rosetta Stone with Robin Williams — that was an indelible moment."

The scene when Williams' character says farewell to Stiller's Larry Daley after three films over eight years represents the film's emotional core.

"You know how Dorothy in Wizard of Oz says goodbye to her friends and saves the Scarecrow for last? And she says, 'I'm going to miss you the most,' " Levy says. "We knew that Teddy had to be last. And it was very emotional to shoot."

Levy won't discuss breaking the news to Stiller about Williams' death, other than to say "it was just horrible.'' But he was inspired weeks later to add a special tribute at Museum 3's end.

"I wanted to say the film was in his memory, but something more specific. Which is why I chose the words 'Magic Never Ends,' " Levy says. "It's true of these museums. But it's more deeply true of Robin and his legacy."