The Guy Who Did ‘Night at the Museum’ Is James Cameron’s Pick for ‘Fantastic Voyage’

Director Shawn Levy's movies all have two things in common: Critics hate them, and audiences love them. The "Night at the Museum" movies are his biggest commercial successes, but he's also been responsible for "Cheaper by the Dozen," "The Pink Panther" and "Date Night." (Interestingly, the "Night at the Museum" sequel was the first time he helmed a second installment of any of his movies.) But apparently he doesn't want to be the family-comedy guy anymore: He's wrapped "Real Steel" and now James Cameron has picked him to direct the 3-D "Fantastic Voyage" that he'll be producing.

If this seems surprising, well, we agree. Action isn't exactly Levy's forte, and according to Deadline, Paul Greengrass, Darren Aronofsky, Timur Bekmambetov ("Wanted") and Jonathan Mostow ("Terminator 3") were all directors being considered for the project, which is based on a 1966 film about a team of scientists shrunk down and sent into the body of a dying colleague.

So why did Cameron go with Levy? Deadline's best guess is that he's a favorite of Fox, where he's made five films, including the "Museum" movies. Plus, Deadline credits Levy's "strong commercial instinct" as perhaps being a factor. Still, this seems like a bizarre choice, especially coming from a guy like Cameron, who's such a demanding, opinionated filmmaker. To put it bluntly, Levy seems like the sort of vanilla director Cameron wouldn't respect. We have to assume this means that Cameron's seen "Real Steel" and liked it enough to feel confident letting Levy take on "Fantastic Voyage," which Cameron has been interested in getting off the ground for about 15 years. Maybe that's a good sign for "Real Steel," but considering that the Cameron-produced "Sanctum" wasn't so hot, maybe his instincts in filmmakers aren't as sharp as we would have thought.

Fox And James Cameron Tap Shawn Levy For 3D 'Fantastic Voyage' [Deadline]