The Croods: A New Age has dethroned Tenet for the unfortunate honor of being the highest-grossing film opening of the COVID-19 pandemic. The movie opened on Thanksgiving weekend, typically a big week for theaters, with $9.7 million earned since Friday and $14.2 million earned since Wednesday. The DreamWorks animated sequel finds the Croods family dealing with new neighbors, the Bettermans, who are a little more evolved than the titular prehistoric family. The film’s voice cast includes returning stars Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke, and Cloris Leachman, and newcomers Peter Dinklage, Leslie Mann, and Kelly Marie Tran.
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Freaky is in second place, earning $770,000 in its third weekend. Holiday comedy The War With Grandpa is in third place with $643,000. Neo-Western Let Him Go, starring Diane Lane and Kevin Costner, moves into fourth place with $453,000. Another horror movie, Come Play, comes in fifth with $387,000 million.
Disney’s Frozen returned to theaters this weekend, the latest re-release trying to keep movie theaters alive during the pandemic. The film earned $120,000, averaging just $88 each from 1,367 venues.
Keep reading to see this weekend’s top box office list.
1. The Croods: A New Age
- Opening Weekend
- Weekend: $9.7 million
- Total: $14.2 million
Searching for a safer habitat, the prehistoric Crood family discovers an idyllic, walled-in paradise that meets all of its needs. Unfortunately, they must also learn to live with the Bettermans — a family that’s a couple of steps above the Croods on the evolutionary ladder. As tensions between the new neighbors start to rise, a new threat soon propels both clans on an epic adventure that forces them to embrace their differences, draw strength from one another, and survive together.
The Croods: A New Age is directed by Joel Crawford from a screenplay by Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman, Paul Fisher, and Bob Logan. The film’s voice cast includes Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke, Cloris Leachman, Peter Dinklage, Leslie Mann, and Kelly Marie Tran.
2. Freaky
- Week Three
- Weekend: $770,000
- Total: $7 Million
Seventeen-year-old Millie Kessler spends her days trying to survive high school and the cruel actions of the popular crowd. But when she becomes the latest target of the Butcher, the town’s infamous serial killer, her senior year becomes the least of her worries. When the Butcher’s mystical dagger causes him and Millie to magically switch bodies, the frightened teen learns she has just 24 hours to get her identity back before she looks like a middle-aged maniac forever.
Freaky is directed by Christopher Landon, based a screenplay he wrote Landon with Michael Kennedy. The film stars Vince Vaughn, Kathryn Newton, Katie Finneran, Celeste O’Connor, and Alan Ruck.
3. The War With Grandpa
- Week Eight
- Weekend: $645,000
- Total: $17.2 million
Peter and his grandpa used to be very close, but when Grandpa Jack moves in with the family, Peter is forced to give up his most prized possession: his bedroom. Peter will stop at nothing to get his room back, scheming with friends to devise a series of pranks to drive him out. However, grandpa doesn’t give up easily, and it turns into an all-out war between the two.
The War with Grandpa is directed by Tim Hill from a screenplay by Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember, based on Robert Kimmel Smith’s novel of the same name. The film stars Robert De Niro, Oakes Fegley, Uma Thurman, Rob Riggle, Laura Marano, Cheech Marin, Jane Seymour, and Christopher Walken.
4. Let Him Go
- Week Three
- Weekend: $453,000
- Total: $8.7 million
Following the loss of their son, a retired sheriff and his wife leave their Montana ranch to rescue their young grandson from the clutches of a dangerous family living off the grid in the Dakotas.
Let Him Go is written and directed by Thomas Bezucha. The film is based on Larry Watson’s 2013 novel of the same name. It stars Kevin Costner and Diane Lane
5. Come Play
- Week Four
- Weekend: $387,000
- Total: $8.7 million
Parents fight to save their son when a mysterious creature uses his electronic devices to break into our world.
Come Play is written and directed by Jacob Chase. The film stars Gillian Jacobs, John Gallagher Jr., Azhy Robertson, and Winslow Fegley.
6. Honest Thief
- Week Eight
- Weekend: $350,000
- Total: $13.5 million
Hoping to cut a deal, a professional bank robber agrees to return all the money he stole in exchange for a reduced sentence. But when two FBI agents set him up for murder, he must now go on the run to clear his name and bring them to justice.
Honest Thief is directed by Mark Williams, from a screenplay Williams co-wrote with Steve Allrich. The movie stars Liam Neeson, Kate Walsh, Robert Patrick, Anthony Ramos, Jeffrey Donovan, and Jai Courtney.
7. Elf
- Week Three(of Re-Release)
- Weekend: $315,000
- Total: $175 million
Buddy (Will Ferrell) was accidentally transported to the North Pole as a toddler and raised to adulthood among Santa’s elves. Unable to shake the feeling that he doesn’t fit in, the adult Buddy travels to New York, in full elf uniform, in search of his real father. As it happens, this is Walter Hobbs (James Caan), a cynical businessman. After a DNA test proves this, Walter reluctantly attempts to start a relationship with the childlike Buddy with increasingly chaotic results.
First released in 2003, Elf was directed by Jon Favreau, written by David Berenbaum, and stars Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen, Daniel Tay, Bob Newhart and Ed Asner.
8. Tenet
- Week 13
- Weekend: $300,000
- Total: $57.4 million
A secret agent embarks on a dangerous, time-bending mission to prevent the start of World War III.
Tenet is directed by Christopher Nolan and stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, and Kenneth Branagh.
9. The Santa Clause
- Week Two (of re-release)
- Weekend: $170,000
- Total: $145.6 million
Divorced dad Scott (Tim Allen) has custody of his son (Eric Lloyd) on Christmas Eve. After he accidentally kills a man in a Santa suit, they are magically transported to the North Pole, where an elf explains that Scott must take Santa’s place before the next Christmas arrives. Scott thinks he’s dreaming, but over the next several months he gains weight and grows an inexplicably white beard. Maybe that night at the North Pole wasn’t a dream after all — and maybe Scott has a lot of work to do.
The Santa Clause was directed by John Pasquin and stars Tim Allen, Wendy Crewson
David Krumholtz, Larry Brandenburg, Judge Reinhold, Eric Lloyd, Jayne Eastwood, and Peter Boyle.
10. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
- Opening weekend (of re-release)
- Weekend: $169,000
- Total: $72.9 million
As the holidays approach, Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) wants to have a perfect family Christmas, so he pesters his wife, Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo), and children, as he tries to make sure everything is in line, including the tree and house decorations. However, things go awry quickly. His hick cousin, Eddie (Randy Quaid), and his family show up unplanned and start living in their camper on the Griswold property. Even worse, Clark’s employers renege on the holiday bonus he needs.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation was directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik and written by John Hughes, based on “Christmas ’59,” a short story he wrote for National Lampoon magazine. The film stars Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, and Randy Quaid.
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Image courtesy of New Line Cinema.
