I have to admit, I forgot The Croods 2 even existed. The animated cave-family comedy was a gigantic hit when it hit theaters in 2013, earning nearly $600M and launching an entire franchise. After such a long wait, Universal and Dreamworks (the original was with Dreamworks and Fox) have decided that they’ll do the opposite of other studios during a pandemic, and move their film up in the schedule rather than out of 2020.
THR reports The Croods: A New Age has moved off of its Christmas timeframe and into Thanksgiving, opening on November 25th. The sequel has had a tumultuous run of things. It was actually cancelled by Dreamworks in 2016, causing co-director Kirk DeMicco to jet for another company. But a year later the film was back on track, having survived Dreamworks’ move from 20th Century Fox to Universal.
The returning voice cast includes Nicolas Cage, Catherine Keener, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Clark Duke, and Cloris Leachman. Leslie Mann and Peter Dinklage are new additions, while Kelly Marie Tran came aboard to replace the previously-cast Kat Dennings. Joel Crawford, a director on the Trolls Holliday special, makes his feature debut.
As the title suggests, The Croods: A New Age follows the birth of society, leaving the age of cavemen behind.
With so many films moving into 2021, I guess Universal saw a chance to take advantage of the situation. It’s still debatable that opening movies in theaters is a good idea, though, and with competition in the form of No Time to Die and Soul (for now) it could be tough sledding.