The Croods: A New Age was a breath of fresh air at North American movie theaters this weekend, grossing an estimated $14.22 million over the five-day Thanksgiving frame and $9.71 million from Friday-Sunday on 2,221 screens.
If the latter figure holds, the Universal release will surpass Tenet ($9.35 million) as the biggest three-day opening since the coronavirus pandemic shuttered theaters in March. The Croods’ per-screen average was $4,392 over the three-day period and $6,429 over the five-day.
This marks the fifth straight weekend Universal has enjoyed the No. 1 film at the North American box office, following Come Play, Let Him Go (both Focus Features titles) and Freaky, which held the top spot for two consecutive weekends. The studio has four more films set to release this year, including All My Life (Universal) and Half Brothers (Focus) on Dec. 4 and Promising Young Woman (Focus) and News of the World (Universal) on Christmas Day.
The Croods: A New Age received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics but fared even better with audiences, garnering an “A” Cinemascore and a 95% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes (from 516 ratings). It marks the first major family release to hit theaters since March, satisfying a pent-up demand and suggesting many parents were just waiting for the right title to lure them back to cinemas again. Notably, 32% of this weekend’s audience consisted of parents, while half fell under the age of 17.
Of course, no apples-to-apples comparisons can be made with the first Croods, which opened to $43.64 million in March 2013 and finished with a robust $187.17 million domestic and $587.2 million worldwide during a very different time. In today’s climate, a near-$10 million theatrical opening counts as a win.
Overseas, The Croods opened to an estimated $20.8 million from seven markets, $19.2 million of which came from China. A New Age marks the third-highest MPA debut in that country, after Tenet and Mulan, since theaters reopened there.
Dipping one spot to second place after two weeks at the top was Universal’s Freaky, which grossed an estimated $770,000 over the three-day frame and $1.1 million over the five-day. That brings the total for the horror-comedy to $7.02 million in North America and $11.89 million worldwide.
Third place went to 101 Studios’ The War With Grandpa, which grossed an estimated $644,000 over the three-day frame and $892,000 over the five-day. The cume for the Robert De Niro family comedy is $17.26 million to date.
In fourth and fifth place were the Universal/Focus titles Let Him Go and Come Play, which brought in an estimated $453,000 three-day/$670,000 five-day and $387,000/$520,000 in their fourth and fifth weekends, respectively (they are also now available on PVOD). Totals currently stand at $8.74 million and $8.7 million.
In limited play, NEON released the Kate Winslet-Saoirse Ronan drama Ammonite on 58 screens and brought in an estimated $161,000.
Disney’s latest holiday re-release, the original Frozen, made barely a dent despite opening on 1,367 screens, grossing just $120,000 over the three-day and $150,000 over the five-day period. The underwhelming result isn’t a surprise considering the presence of The Croods in theaters this weekend.
OVERSEAS
Warner Bros.’ Tenet surpassed $300 million internationally this weekend after grossing an estimated $837,000 from 53 overseas territories. Its international cume stands at $300.4 million while its global tally is $357.8 million. It has yet to release in 15 markets, including Argentina, India, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Also from Warner Bros., The Witches (which went directly to HBO Max in North America) grossed an additional $1.2 million, bringing its overseas total to $16.9 million.
Sunday’s 3-Day Studio Weekend Estimates (Domestic)
FRI, NOV. 27 – SUN, NOV. 29
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Croods: A New Age | $9,710,000 | — | 2,211 | — | $4,392 | $14,220,000 | 1 | Universal Pictures |
| 2 | Freaky | $770,000 | -40% | 1,735 | -322 | $444 | $7,029,180 | 3 | Universal Pictures |
| 3 | The War With Grandpa | $643,937 | -14% | 1,500 | -188 | $429 | $17,257,177 | 8 | 101 Studios |
| 4 | Let Him Go | $453,000 | -37% | 1,447 | -460 | $313 | $8,742,000 | 4 | Focus Features |
| 5 | Come Play | $387,000 | -31% | 1,029 | -335 | $376 | $8,703,000 | 5 | Focus Features |
| 6 | The Santa Clause (2020 re-release) | $170,000 | -63% | 1,090 | -491 | $156 | $706,000 | 2 | Walt Disney Pictures |
| 7 | Vanguard | $165,000 | -59% | 1,200 | -175 | $138 | $640,000 | 2 | Gravitas Ventures |
| 8 | Frozen (2020 re-release) | $120,000 | — | 1,367 | — | $88 | $155,000 | 1 | Walt Disney Pictures |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Honest Thief | $350,000 | -21% | 975 | -279 | $359 | $13,545,435 | 7 | Open Road Films |
| 2 | Tenet | $300,000 | -17% | 656 | -208 | $457 | $57,400,000 | 13 | Warner Bros. |
| 3 | True to the Game 2 | $114,653 | -29% | 180 | -36 | $637 | $1,117,808 | 4 | Faith Media Distribution |
| 4 | Buddy Games | $111,000 | -26% | 397 | -4 | $280 | $111,000 | 2 | Paramount |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Forgotten Carols | $75,000 | -27% | 63 | 5 | $1,190 | $263,978 | 2 | Purdie Distribution |
| 2 | Fatman | $27,696 | -45% | 87 | -90 | $318 | $237,783 | 3 | Saban Films |
| 3 | The Empty Man | $8,000 | -68% | 95 | -107 | $84 | $2,979,472 | 6 | 20th Century Studios |
| 4 | Ammonite | $7,250 | -69% | 58 | -122 | $125 | $160,930 | 3 | NEON |
| 5 | The New Mutants | $7,000 | -83% | 40 | -65 | $175 | $23,827,894 | 14 | 20th Century Studios |
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