‘Croods 2’ Release Delayed

Dreamworks Animation has pushed back the release of The Croods 2 from 2017 to 2018.

The film, originally scheduled for December 22, 2017, is being delayed due to Comcast/NBCUniversal’s impending purchase of Dreamworks, which is expected to become official sometime in the next month. Croods 2 should then become the first Dreamworks animated film distributed by its new corporate parent, Universal, rather than the studio’s current film distributor, Fox.

Fox is keeping the December 22 release date for itself, however, and will instead launch Blue Sky’s The Story of Ferdinand. This means that Ferdinand is being pushed back too, since its most recent release date had been July 21, 2017.

Fox is currently planning to release two Dreamworks films in 2017, before wrapping up its distribution deal: The Boss Baby in March and Captain Underpants in June. According to The Hollywood Reporter, which first reported the news about Croods, there have been discussions between Fox and Universal about moving Captain Underpants to Universal as well, though the results of those negotations are unclear right now.