DreamWorks Animation and Universal Pictures have shifted the previously scheduled December 23, 2020 release of their upcoming animated feature, The Croods: A New Age, back a full month on the calendar to November 25, just in time for Thanksgiving. Industry reports speculate the move has been made in anticipation of a Disney reschedule of Pixar’s upcoming Pete Docter pic, Soul, currently slated to hit theatres November 20. MGM’s latest Bond film, the highly anticipated No Time to Die, is also set for a November 20 release, which is sure to take a large slice of whatever box office pie is served in the upcoming pandemic-impacted holiday movie business.

When it was released back in 2013, The Croods proved itself a winner at the box office; written and directed by Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders, the animated comedy, starring Nicolas Cage, Catherine Keener, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, Clark Duke and Cloris Leachman generated almost $600 million worldwide.

Early work on the sequel was halted by then Universal Pictures chairman Donna Langley in 2016 after NBCUniversal’s DreamWorks Animation purchase; earlier that year, the film’s scheduled summer 2017 release had been pushed by distributor Fox to Christmas. In October 2017, Crawford was announced as the sequel’s director and the film was back on the schedule for a 2020 release.

The sequel again features stars Cage as Grug Crood, Keener as Ugga Crood, Stone as their daughter, Eep; Reynolds as Eep’s boyfriend, Guy; Duke as Thunk and Leachman as Gran. They’re joined by new stars Peter Dinklage (HBO’s Game of Thrones) as Phil Betterman, Leslie Mann (Blockers) as Hope Betterman, and Kelly Marie Tran (Star Wars: Episode VIII-The Last Jedi) as their daughter, Dawn. 

Joel Crawford, who has worked on multiple DreamWorks Animation films, including Trolls and the Kung Fu Panda franchise, is directing; Mark Swift (Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted) joins him as producer.

The film synopsis is as follows:

The Croods have survived their fair share of dangers and disasters, from fanged prehistoric beasts to surviving the end of the world, but now they will face their biggest challenge of all: another family

The Croods need a new place to live. So, the first prehistoric family sets off into the world in search of a safer place to call home. When they discover an idyllic walled-in paradise that meets all their needs, they think their problems are solved … except for one thing. Another family already lives there: the Bettermans. 

The Bettermans (emphasis on the “better”)—with their elaborate tree house, amazing inventions and irrigated acres of fresh produce—are a couple of steps above the Croods on the evolutionary ladder. When they take the Croods in as the world’s first houseguests, it isn’t long before tensions escalate between the cave family and the modern family. 

Just when all seems lost, a new threat will propel both families on an epic adventure outside the safety of the wall, one that will force them to embrace their differences, draw strength from each other and forge a future together. 

Source: DreamWorks Animation