Smithsonian Sees Boost From Night at the Museum

By Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers

The Ben Stiller flick Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian gave Washington's grand museums a healthy dose of publicity, but it seems that some visitors have taken the movie a little too seriously. "We found in the castle building, where my office is, we go down to the guard station and find families down there insisting that they go downstairs and get in those archives under the Mall," says Wayne Clough, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. "There are no archives under the Mall that I know of." Still, the movie hooked a new generation on museums. Better yet: SI gets a cut of the profits.

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