The Croods: A New Age (2020)

The Croods: A New Age (also known as The Croods 2) is a 2020 American animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation. The second film in The Croods franchise, it was directed by Joel Crawford and written by Paul Fisher, Bob Logan, and Dan and Kevin Hageman. Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke, and Cloris Leachman reprise their roles from the original film, with Peter Dinklage, Leslie Mann, and Kelly Marie Tran joining the cast. The film follows the Croods, Guy, and their pets Belt, Chunky, and Douglas as they discover an idyllic, walled-in paradise that meets all of their needs. However, they must also learn to live with the Bettermans, a family a couple of steps above the Croods on the evolutionary ladder. A sequel to The Croods was first announced in April 2013, with directors Sanders and DeMicco returning to helm the film. Its development continued through 2014 and 2015 until its cancellation in November 2016 due to doubts in response to NBCUniversal's August 2016 acquisition of DreamWorks Animation. However, the project was revived in September 2017, with Crawford replacing Sanders and DeMicco as directors in the following month, though they retain story credit. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, most of the final results from the animating process were done from the crew's homes. The Croods: A New Age was theatrically released in the United States on November 25, 2020 by Universal Pictures. It grossed $215 million worldwide against its $65 million budget and received mostly positive reviews, with critics calling it "a decent-enough follow-up" and praising the cast and animation. The film was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film.