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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. It's a respectable performance,
given that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in
a majority of U.S. theater sites being closed.
Sites that remain open often are operating with
reduced capacity, limited hours and social
distancing requirements.
"After an opening that topped very modest
expectations, 'Croods' is naturally remaining
the dominant film in a market operating with
less than 40% of theaters open currently," said
Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Box Office Pro.
"Renewed lockdowns and closures across the
country will probably keep exhibition's hands
tied for the remainder for the holidays, even
with 'Wonder Woman 1984' and a few other
releases on the horizon to provide open theaters
and willing audiences with fresh content."
Seven years ago, the original "Croods" earned
$89 million during its first two weekends in
2013 when it debuted at 4,046 theaters. During
the same weekend a year ago, the third weekend
of "Frozen II" led with $35.2 million at 4,348
locations followed by the second session of
"Knives Out" with $14.2 million.
Focus Features' launch of the comedy "Half
Brothers," starring Luis Gerardo Mendez and
Connor Del Rio, finished a distant second with
$720,000 at 1,369 locations followed by the
fourth frame of Universal's body-swap horror
title "Freaky" with $460,000 at 1,502 sites.
Universal's opening of romance drama "All My
Life," starring Jessica Rothe and Harry Shum
Jr., came in fourth with a quiet $350,000 at 970
locations.
The ninth weekend of 101 Studios' Robert De Niro
comedy "The War With Grandpa" continued to show
staying power in fifth place with $329,359 at
1,285 sites to lift its total to $17.6 million.
Focus took the next two slots with the sixth
week of horror-thriller "Come Play" earning
$235,000 at 773 sites, and the fifth frame of
suspense-thriller "Let Him Go" with $215,000 at
1,113 locations.
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Universal and its specialty
label, Focus Features, have been far more
willing than rivals to open new titles because
the studio struck landmark deals with the AMC
and Cinemark chains to shorten the theatrical
window. The pacts allow the studio to release
new films on premium video-on-demand within as
little as 17 days of their theatrical debuts
with the circuits expected to receive some of
the digital revenues.
Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with
Comscore, estimated that just over 2,200
theaters or 35% are open in North America, down
slightly from last weekend when there were
approximately 2,267 or 38% of theaters open.
That's well below Labor Day weekend when Warner
Bros. opened "Tenet," when there were around
3,400 theaters or 56%.
"Considering the shift each week toward fewer
open theaters in North America and dynamic
release windows that place the small screen
availability of theatrical films within reach of
consumers in a relatively short amount of time,
the big screen remains a draw and thus remains
part of every studio's release strategy,"
Dergarabedian added.
No major studios titles are due to launch in
theaters until Christmas Day when Warner Bros.
opens "Wonder Woman 1984," Focus debuts
"Promising Young Woman," Universal launches
"News of the World," starring Tom Hanks, and
Sony rolls out "Monster Hunter." The "Wonder
Woman" sequel will also be opening
simultaneously on HBO Max, as announced on Nov.
18.
Warner Bros. stunned the entertainment business
on Dec. 4 with its announcement that all of its
2021 titles would follow the "Wonder Woman 1984"
pattern of launching simultaneously in movie
theaters and on HBO Max.
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