‘The Croods: A New Age’ Opening Day Near $2M As Pandemic Wrecks Thanksgiving Box Office Stretch

Refresh for latest...: The international box office continues to provide welcome surprises during the pandemic era. Where movie theaters are open and people feel safe, they turn up for new or enduringly exciting product that’s on offer.

With its theatrical window deal signed by AMC and Cinemark, Universal and Focus Features have continued to lead the struggling pandemic box office as “The Croods: A New Age” earned its third straight No. 1 weekend and the studio’s seventh straight weekend atop the charts with $3 million from 2,115 screens.Overseas, the film added $6.6 million in China and $8.4 across all overseas markets, including openings in Mexico and Ecuador.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterUniversal’s animated adventure “The Croods: A New Age” led another quiet weekend at the domestic box office.

Refresh for more analysis, chart, etc. Even in a normal, healthy economy, the major studios are typically skittish about opening big movies before Christmas with many busy with holiday activities, so it comes as no surprise during a pandemic where just north of 40% of all 5,500 domestic movie theaters are open that there wouldn’t be any new wide openings this weekend.

Timothée Chalamet made his Saturday Night Live hosting debut and shared memories of his New York childhood.

Refresh for latest…: Sunday’s international box office reporting looks vastly different to what was expected coming into the weekend. A Friday gross that portended a high-teens launch for Monster Hunter in China was quickly thwarted when local authorities pulled the feature game adaptation from the country’s cinemas.

Dave McNary Film ReporterUniversal and DreamWorks’ “The Croods: A New Age” repeated as winner of a mild post-Thanksgiving weekend with $4.4 million at 2,205 North American locations.The animated comedy sequel, featuring a voice cast of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds, has been dominating the seriously subdued moviegoing business since its Nov. 25 launch with $20.3 million in its first dozen days.

Despite the most challenged Thanksgiving box office in modern times, The Croods: A New Age managed to come in ahead of projections with a five-day holiday debut of $14.2 million, including $9.7 million for the weekend. Overseas, the family film launched in seven markets to $20.8 million — led by $19.2 million in China — for a global bow of $35 million.

The Croods: A New Age earned $3.9 million on Black Friday for a better-than-expected five-day debut of $14 million-plus in North America if projections hold. That includes a three-day weekend tally of $9.7 million, as strong as Tenet.

As states and cities start new stay-at-home orders — specifically Los Angeles county — it is only expected that box office will continue to struggle. This applies even more to the specialty box office.

The Croods: A New Age is on top at movie theaters.

Refresh for latest…: DreamWorks Animation/Universal’s The Croods: A New Age led the weekend in China with a $19.2M debut, outpacing local titles One Second and Caught In Time. This is the third best bow for a studio movie in the Middle Kingdom during the pandemic era (behind Tenet and Mulan).

While the pandemic is continuing to sap the box office of its strength, Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s “The Croods: A New Age” is showing opening weekend numbers similar to what “Tenet” showed nearly three months ago, earning a three-day opening weekend of $9.7 million and an extended 5-day Thanksgiving opening of $14.2 million from 2,211 screens.By comparison, “Tenet” earned a $20.2 million extended opening on Labor Day weekend, though that figure included additional days of preview

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterThanksgiving is traditionally one of the most popular times to go to the movies.

The Croods: A New Age earned $2.7 million on Thanksgiving Day for a two-day total of $4.6 million as the domestic box office endures its worst holiday in modern history amid the COVID-19 crisis. Still, the film's performance is better than expected so far.

DreamWorks Animation/Universal’s The Croods: A New Age looks set to lead the weekend in China where the cume an estimated $11.6M through its first two days, and pre-sales are solid. This portends an FSS frame of $20M, per Uni, with family uptick throught the weekend . Six other markets are also getting a first look at the prehistoric family pic that’s directed by Joel Crawford, and are expected to round out the global session total to $21.3M.