The Thanksgiving holiday weekend typically provides bountiful stuffing at the box office. Unfortunately, 2020 is not a normal year. The pandemic has shut over 60% of movie theaters and Hollywood has absconded to next year. Universal is the only studio offering major releases thanks to its shortened window deal with AMC and Cinemark. Thus, The Croods: A New Age [CROD2] has the long weekend all to itself. The DreamWorks animated sequel brings back the stone age family to meet a more modern family. The original The Croods opened to $43.6 million in March 2013 and legged out $187.2 million, which now seems like astronomical numbers from a prehistoric time. While most people have stopped moviegoing, some are still willing to brave theaters for new entertainment. If we estimate 40% of $43.6 million, we get $17.4 million, which is the ceiling for the 3-day weekend. Booked in 2211 theaters, The Croods: A New Age could carve out $20 million from Wednesday to Sunday.
Even though Freaky [FEAKY] was the number one movie at the box office, Universal is already advertising its VOD premiere date of December 4th as permitted by its shortened window deal. Will it have an effect on the third weekend gross? Freaky may clear $1.0 million over the five-day weekend.
That’s the whisper from the virtual trading floor.