The Croods: A New Age: DreamWorks Animation partners with Vudu for prehistoric watch party

With The Croods: A New Age hitting on-demand this Friday (Dec. 18), DreamWorks Animation and Vudu are hosting a watch party for the film. Fandango's Nikki Novak will host a special pre-show event (accessible right here) that includes an interview with director Joel Crawford, appearances from special guests, and a musical performance by Nandi Bushell. To RSVP to the watch party itself, click here. Viewers at home can craft a personalized red carpet experience with this activity kit.

The pre-show begins at 6:30PM EST, while the watch party kicks off half an hour later at 7PM EST. You can follow along with the hashtag #TheCroodsWatchParty.

One of the few box office successes of the COVID-19 era, The Croods: A New Age is close to hitting $80 million globally.

"It's tricky taking on a sequel. By nature of a sequel, you've already told the biggest, most important story on the first of the franchise. You have to make sure the sequel feels like you justify this next big event in these characters' lives. For me, the entry point was approaching this movie as a fan," Crawford told SYFY WIRE over Zoom. "There's so much I love about the first one that I wanted to make sure that everything I loved was brought back. And then I also brought my own voice and vision to this sequel."

After the events of the 2013 film, the titular Stone Age family now roves the primeval planet, no longer content to cower in caves. Grug (Nicolas Cage) wants to keep the pack together, but that becomes difficult when Eep (Emma Stone) and Guy (Ryan Reynolds) start planning a life of their own. Things get even more complicated when the Croods meet the Bettermans, a family of hipsters who think they're more evolved. Peter Dinklage, Leslie Mann, and Kelly Marie Tran join the franchise as Phil, Hope, and Dawn Betterman respectively. Meanwhile, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke, and Cloris Leachman reprise their characters from the first film.

The screenplay was penned by two screenwriting duos: Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman and Paul Fisher and Bob Logan.