DreamWorks Animation's The Croods was a box office hit this weekend... Yes, this was inevitable for many reasons. Despite the fact that the trailers and marketing turned off a lot of folks in the animation community (I wasn't one of them, I was more mixed on what I was seeing), it sure did well with general audiences. I was expecting that to happen. The prehistoric comedy-adventure opened with a very good $43 million, and an additional $62 million overseas. It's off to a good start.
The studio's last release, Rise of the Guardians, was sadly a box office disappointment. I finally saw the film for the first time yesterday and loved it, but like I said before, I could see why it had trouble on opening weekend. I didn't think The Croods would be in any trouble; it looked far more accessible than Guardians. A family of cavemen going on a colorful, comedic adventure? Easier sell than a fairly serious film about epic fantasy-like versions of our childhood legends teaming up to save the children of the world. Fox's marketing for this film focused on the fun and comedic tone of the film, and that's why it appealed.
How will it do in the long run? Well, most DreamWorks films get good word-of-mouth. This film has all of April to itself without any major family-friendly competition; though something like G.I. Joe: Retaliation (also in 3D) can take away some younger audiences, this'll have staying power until the big blockbusters come in. I think it could finish up with around $150-170 million domestically. The "A" grade on CinemaScore and the good reception guarantee that this will be a hit and a rebound for the studio.
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