The Croods: A New Age is delivering some welcome news at the box office this weekend with an opening that is significantly better than our prediction. In fact, if it hits Universal’s Sunday morning projection of $9.71 million, it will have the best Friday–Sunday weekend since theaters started reopening, beating Tenet’s $9.35 million first full weekend (although note that Warner Bros. published a figure of $20.2 million for Tenet, which included a week of earnings in Canada, and preview screenings in the United States). The reason for this big weekend was the continued attendance of families in movie theaters: 81% of the audience for Croods 2 was either under 18 or a parent bringing a child.

While nothing can save Thanksgiving as far as the theatrical movie business is concerned, Universal is at least giving remaining moviegoers something to watch this weekend with the release of The Croods: A New Age, a movie that has a bona fide claim to being the biggest release since Tenet’s debut back in August. The animated adventure is a sequel to 2013’s global hit The Croods, which grossed $187 million domestically and $573 million worldwide. This outing might only make a fraction of that amount, but the studio will be hoping to emulate the performance of Trolls World Tour back in March and earn a big extra chunk with a rapid PVOD release. Given the state of the overall market, our model doesn’t have high hopes for its domestic debut.

The Croods: A New Age debuts this week in 2,211 theaters, making it, not surprisingly, the widest release of the week. Universal’s top films are keeping their current theater counts on Thanksgiving day, but are all set to lose venues on Friday. Walt Disney re-released The Santa Clause last week and are keeping it in theaters this week, as well as bringing the animated blockbuster Frozen back to the big screen. The War With Grandpa is set to decrease its theater count on Friday after retaining last week’s count over Thanksgiving day. IFC Films’ Embattled and Stardust are changing their counts for Thanksgiving day and will do so again on Friday. We have two estimated theater counts for December 4th. Half Brothers, and All My Life, both from Universal Pictures, will be playing in an estimated 1,100 and 800+ theaters respectively. Here are the numbers…

Family adventure is scheduled to open in theaters on November 5, 2021 ... Full Movie Details.

DreamWorks Animation animated adventure with the voice of Alec Baldwin is scheduled to open in theaters on March 26 ... Full Movie Details.

Sci-fi action movie starring Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley, directed by Doug Liman is scheduled to open in theaters on January 22 ... Full Movie Details. Todd Hewitt lives on the distant planet of New World—a new hope for humanity until struck by “The Noise,” a virus which inflicts immersive visions of ones’ every thought. The cacophony drives many mad until Todd makes a hidden, silent discovery: there is a girl named Viola, who may be the key to unlocking New World’s many layered secrets. Together, the two unlikely companions are forced on a white-knuckle adventure into an unexplored planet—trying to escape and hide in an environment where all thought is heard, all movement seen—as they both discover the truth about the lives they left behind and the spectacular world they’ve learned to call home.

Freaky will remain top at the domestic box office this weekend in spite of a steep 66% decline from its opening weekend. Its win at the box office was practically guaranteed going into the weekend, with Vanguard, the only new wide release, playing in a more modest 1,375 theaters for indie distributor Gravitas Ventures (it is now projected to open with $400,000). Freaky’s steep decline was also expected, with our model predicting a $1.56 million weekend and a decline of 57%. The fact that it fell 20% short of that low figure is a measure of how audience attitudes are changing towards the theatrical experience as COVID-19 cases rise steeply across the United States.

Vanguard will attempt to dislodge Freaky from its perch atop the domestic box office chart this weekend. Even though the new release stars Jackie Chan and earned around $45 million in its native China, our model thinks it’ll struggle to do so. But that skirmish is a sideshow this weekend as theaters are taking another blow from the surging pandemic and related lockdowns.