With no new wide releases hitting theaters this weekend during an overall slow December, Universal’s The Croods: A New Age easily retained the No. 1 spot at the North American box office with an estimated $3 million, a drop of just 32% from last weekend’s tally. That gives the Dreamworks Animation sequel a total of $24.3 million to date, putting it in second position among pandemic-era releases after Warner Bros.’ Tenet ($57.8 million).
It’s worth noting that only around 40% of theaters are currently open in North America, with many municipalities having shut down multiplexes during a record-breaking winter surge in new coronavirus cases. That puts the remainder of this weekend’s chart in sub-$500,000 territory, including the No. 2 film Half Brothers, which grossed an estimated $490,000 in its second weekend of release. The immigration-themed comedy from Focus Features has brought in $1.38 million to date.
Third place went to Warner Bros.’ re-release of the Will Ferrell holiday comedy Elf, which grossed an estimated $395,000 for a total of $2.2 million since it first began playing select theaters in July.
No. 4 went to Universal’s body-swap horror-comedy Freaky, which brought in an estimated $315,000 this weekend for a domestic cume of $8.2 million.
In its tenth weekend of release, 101 Studios’ The War with Grandpa grossed an estimated $266,864 over the three-day frame, good enough for fifth place. The total for the Robert De Niro comedy is now $17.96 million.
Bleecker Street released the Emily Blunt drama Wild Mountain Thyme on 450 screens and brought in an estimated $100,000 in its debut weekend.
OVERSEAS
The Croods: A New Age brought in an estimated $8.44 million in 12 markets, including a No. 1 opening in Mexico, bringing its international cume to $52.08 million and its worldwide tally to $76.34 million. The majority of this weekend’s gross came from China, where the film held well with an estimated $6.6 million and has grossed $46 million to date. It has now surpassed Mulan to become the second highest-grossing MPA release in the country this year after Tenet.
Warner Bros.’ The Witches grossed an estimated $2.2 million from 37 markets, including $1.2 million in Australia where it opened in first place this weekend. The Anne Hathaway-starring remake now has $22 million worldwide (it debuted directly on HBOMax in North America).
Sony’s Monster Hunter, which is slated for release next weekend in North America, grossed an estimated $1.3 million overseas for an international total of $4.8 million so far.
Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates (Domestic)
FRI, DEC. 11 – SUN, DEC. 13
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Croods: A New Age | $3,010,000 | -32% | 2,115 | -90 | $1,423 | $24,260,105 | 3 | Universal Pictures |
| 2 | Half Brothers | $490,000 | -30% | 1,386 | 17 | $354 | $1,381,525 | 2 | Focus Features |
| 3 | Freaky | $315,000 | -34% | 1,235 | -267 | $255 | $8,233,365 | 5 | Universal Pictures |
| 4 | The War With Grandpa | $266,864 | -16% | 1,080 | -205 | $247 | $17,964,819 | 10 | 101 Studios |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | All My Life | $215,000 | -42% | 965 | -5 | $223 | $695,930 | 2 | Universal Pictures |
| 2 | Come Play | $176,000 | -23% | 610 | -163 | $289 | $9,209,715 | 7 | Focus Features |
| 3 | Die Hard (2020 re-release) | $136,000 | -28% | 823 | -349 | $165 | $325,000 | 2 | |
| 4 | Honest Thief | $135,000 | -30% | 625 | -160 | $216 | $14,020,771 | 9 | Open Road Films |
| 5 | How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2020 re-release) | $126,000 | — | 300 | — | $420 | $126,000 | 1 | Universal |
| 6 | Tenet | $125,000 | -31% | 478 | -54 | $262 | $57,800,000 | 15 | Warner Bros. |
| 7 | Let Him Go | $121,000 | -42% | 765 | -348 | $158 | $9,207,050 | 6 | Focus Features |
| 8 | Wild Mountain Thyme | $100,466 | — | 450 | — | $223 | $100,466 | 1 | Bleecker Street |
| 9 | Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, CODA: The Death of Michael Corleone | $15,000 | -73% | 156 | -23 | $96 | $87,923 | 2 | Paramount Pictures |
| 10 | The New Mutants | $11,000 | 242% | 234 | 204 | $47 | $23,844,036 | 16 | 20th Century Studios |
| 11 | The Empty Man | $5,000 | 303% | 175 | 105 | $29 | $2,987,855 | 8 | 20th Century Studios |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Archenemy | $55,700 | — | 94 | — | $593 | $55,700 | 1 | RLJE Films |
| 2 | The Forgotten Carols | $28,300 | -31% | 70 | 2 | $404 | $399,524 | 4 | Purdie Distribution |
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