The Croods: A New Age easily topped the Thanksgiving box office with numbers that would be terrible during any other time but during a pandemic, the end result is actually pretty respectable.
The Croods sequel grossed $9.7 million over three days and $14.2 million over five days which is the biggest opening during the pandemic since theaters re-opened. The 3-day result surprisingly beats Tenet’s $9.35 million 3-day opening and box office experts are saying the Universal animated sequel did as well as it did because the studio put some money into the marketing and families actually came out to see the film.
Families were said to be the most cautious to return to cinemas according to various surveys after they began to reopen during the pandemic but the sequel brought in 54% females (moms) and an audience that was 70% under 25. With box office hubs like Los Angeles, most of California, NYC, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Minnesota, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and New Mexico out of play, Universal still unleashed the best in industry marketing to drive as many people to as many opened theaters as they possibly could and the result is one they should be proud of, even if the numbers aren’t up to par with Thanksgiving weekends of the past.
Croods 2 also pulled in $19.2 million from overseas markets and with a PVOD release on the horizon (Universal may try to beat the Christmas release of Soul on Disney+) there might be some money to be made here from the sequel during a very unprecedented time. The movie cost $62 million to make and if the overseas numbers can stay consistent and the domestic box office doesn’t completely slide, the sequel could turn a profit once its PVOD figures are factored in. This is a very different time at the box office and studios are taking their wins any way they can.
