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LOS ANGELES — In the latest trailer for next month's "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian," blockbuster director Shawn Levy inserted a shot of three jaded teenage boys, critiquing the look of the franchise's T-Rex ("Seriously, dude, those animatronics suck!") before it comes to life and blows them away. It's a statement of intent from the filmmaker, who says the new Ben Stiller film will appeal to the haters as well as the $250 million worth of people who made the 2006 original a hit.

"That is completely self-referential," laughed Levy. "[The scene] is based on an actual experience that I had where, in an early test screening of 'Night at the Museum,' I was sitting in a crowd of 400 strangers and the lights dimmed, and as the music started I had this row of teenage boys in front of me. Being teenage boys, they were super cynical, talking sh-- and saying, 'This is gonna suck — why are we at this kids' movie?' I'm sitting behind them, gripping my seat with white knuckles because all I wanted to do was strangle them.

"The moment Ben Stiller came around the corner and saw that dinosaur skeleton drinking from the water fountain, I literally witnessed this entire row of teenage boys lean forward slowly, mouths open, and say, 'Holy sh--!' " Levy laughed. "And from that moment until the end credits rolled, I had them."

Levy hopes to grab audiences once again with the eagerly anticipated sequel, which has Stiller's security guard Larry Daley taking a new gig at the massive museum, only to once again square off against a series of wild displays come to life. "It's got a lot more action and a lot more visual spectacle, because it takes place in the biggest museum in the world," explained Levy. "The first movie was one museum, but Smithsonian is 19, so the whole adventure is on a bigger scale."

The film also has a bigger cast of uproarious improv-heavy comedians, including Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Ricky Gervais, Steve Coogan and Jonah Hill. "There's some cool [special effects] going on, but it's also got the best comedy cast we've seen in many, many years," Levy marveled. "The first movie was a phenomenon, so the second movie was even easier to cast."

It also helped Levy land red-hot Oscar-nominee Amy Adams, who joins the franchise as Amelia Earhart. "Amy is almost in a class of her own," the filmmaker said of his lead actress. "I wanted her, she loved the role. It's definitely a well-dimensionalized female protagonist — strong, witty, confident, emotional — and Amy responded to it. She is not as improv-crazy as the fellas surrounding her, but she kept up pretty well."

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Check out everything we've got on "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian."

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