According to Variety, Reese Witherspoon has been approached to play Amelia Earhart in Night at the Museum 2: Escape from the Smithsonian.

According to the report, Fox has moved the sequel’s release date to May 22nd, 2009, switching places with James Cameron’s Avatar, which will now open December 18th, 2009 — the same weekend that Cameron’s Titanic did in 1997. The move was made in an effort to give Cameron more time for post-production.

The screenplay for Smithsonian was written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon who also wrote Night at the Museum. Scott Frank did a rewrite. The sequel will be the first major Hollywood movie shot at the museum complex in Washington, DC. Shawn Levy will return to direct and Ben Stiller will return to star. The original movie, released last Christmas, grossed $252 million domestically and another $323 million overseas.

While Night at the Museum was a cute and fun film, I personally think that Reese deserves better than a sequel. I assume Earhart would be one of the historical figures come to life at night so it would be a supporting role for Reese, not even a starring one.

Here’s some information about Amelia Earhart, whom Reese would portray. Whatever I may personally think of her starring in this movie, I still think Amelia is a very fascinating character.

Amelia Mary Earhart (24 July 1897 – missing 2 July 1937, declared deceased 5 January 1939) was a noted American aviation pioneer, author and women’s rights advocate. Earhart was the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross, which she was awarded as the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many other records, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences, and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for women pilots.