Feb 12, 2007 By Lou Gaul, Calkins Media Film Critic 3 min read

Brad Pitt may land bigger headlines, Tom Cruise may generate more controversy and George Clooney may get more respect, but when it comes to selecting the actor who gets the most bang for the buck, Ben Stiller wins hands down. He’s currently enjoying huge success with the family favorite “Night at the Museum.” During its first seven weeks in theaters, the special-effects-driven comedy, co-starring Robin Williams, has grossed a hugely impressive $225.3 million and is still going strong.

Stiller’s hit parade has been rolling along for seven years now.

Since starring in and producing the hit “Meet the Parents” (2000) with Robert De Niro, the 41-year-old comic actor has been involved in a number of strong box-office favorites. “Parents” grossed a whopping $166.2 million (all totals are just for the United States and Canada, and all figures are courtesy of boxofficeguru.com). Stiller followed it by starring in and directing “Zoolander” (2001), a fashion-world spoof that grossed a moderate $45 million.

His romantic comedy “Along Came Polly,” co-starring Jennifer Aniston (“Derailed”), grossed a very respectable $88 million. Stiller followed that with “Starsky and Hutch,” co-starring Owen Wilson in a modestly mounted spoof of the TV cop show, and it returned a tidy profit with its $88.2 million box-office total.

Stiller enjoyed his biggest pay day with “Meet the Fockers,” starring De Niro, Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman in a very funny sequel to “Meet the Parents.” The follow-up grossed $279.2 million (and its eventual global total topped $500 million). Stiller personally convinced Streisand and Hoffman to team up for the sequel, a stunt-casting move that tickled audiences.

He provided the voice of Alex the lion in the computer-animated smash “Madagascar,” which grossed $193.5 million. (He’s now doing the vocal chores on Alex for a second time on “Madagascar 2,” now in production.)

In between hits, Stiller also does cameos in films starring his friends. He has appeared in “School for Scoundrels” (2006) with Billy Bob Thornton, “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” (2004) with Will Ferrell and “Orange County” (2002) with Jack Black.

He recently completed a remake of “The Heartbreak Kid,” a dark comedy about a newlywed guy who meets the girl of his dreams while on his honeymoon.

Stiller will soon tackle a modestly mounted comedy in “The Marc Pease Experience,” starring Jason Schwartzman (“Marie Antoinette”) and written and directed by Todd Louiso (“Love Liza”). The story follows a guy who has been out of high school for 10 years, goes back to his old mentor/music teacher (Stiller) and asks the instructor to help him put on a show.

By the way, Stiller’s “Night at the Museum” is having success outside of theaters. According to MSNBC, the impressive museum on Manhattan’s Upper West Side has experienced a 20 percent increase in visitors since the PG-rated picture opened late last year.

That certainly qualifies as a happy ending for the film and Stiller.