Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant interview

Robin Williams and Ben Stiller in Night At The Museum, written by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant, based on the book by Milan Trenc, directed by Shawn Levy.

In the New York Times John Anderson talks to screenwriters Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant.

If they can be comfortably compared to any other screenwriting pair, it is probably Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, the once-ubiquitous studio comedy team responsible for ’90s hits like “City Slickers” and “A League of Their Own.” Mr. Lennon and Mr. Garant, however, push the limits of movie comedy to realms unimagined back then.

And they churn it out. This year alone, the team, creators and stars of Comedy Central’s “Reno 911!” — and the upcoming feature film, “Reno 911! Miami” — have seen “Prison” open (and close). They have seen shooting wrap on their “Jean-Claude Van Damme meets Ping-Pong” comedy “Balls of Fury.” They are to begin writing the fifth season of their TV show. And with the upcoming special-effects-and-Ben Stiller-powered holiday extravaganza, “Night at the Museum,” they — and the other writers who worked on the project — are giving exhibitors a reason to live.

“I’ve been hearing great things about it for months,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers LLC, the box-office-tracking company. “You know, there’s this viral marketing that happens in the industry, the buzz, the talk around the campfire. This is just one of those films.”