After The Croods proved to be a critical and commercial success back in 2013, Dreamworks Animation wasted no time with ordering the sequel. The Croods 2 has spent the time since then accumulating its main voice cast and adjusting its release date a few times. However, now it looks like there's been a change of plans for the story, as the movie will reportedly be rewritten.
Although directors Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders are returning to helm The Croods 2, it looks like they won't be writing the story like they did the first time around. Instead, Deadline dropped the news that Kevin and Dan Hageman will pen the sequel instead. The brothers' past credits include coming up with stories for The Lego Movie, Hotel Transylvania and the upcoming Lego Ninjago Movie. They were also hired write the Wile E. Coyote-led Acme movie, but there's been no major news regarding that project in years.
There was no specific reason provided for Kevin and Dan Hageman were brought aboard, but considering their past work on animation, it sounds like they have the right amount of experience to provide a fresh take for The Croods 2. This marks the second biggest change to how The Croods 2 will be experienced by moviegoers in the near future. Just yesterday, Dreamworks Animation was officially taken over by Universal, meaning that they'll be handling the release of this sequel and all other future movies from the studio rather than 20th Century Fox. These obstacles aside, we're hoping that the Hageman brothers' script can take what made The Croods so popular three years ago and add even more fun elements for moviegoers.
The Croods followed the story of a prehistoric family of cave people who were dealing with their way of life being erased by "modern" thinking as they traveled across dangerous new territory to find a new home. The sequel will continue to explore the slow erasure of the cave-living, with specific focus on motherhood and the creation of "society." Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener and Clark Duke have all been confirmed to reprise their roles from the first movie, while Leslie Mann and Kat Dennings have joined as the mother of a rival family and her daughter, respectively. Since the movie is still a ways from release, we'll likely hear what other new characters are being added over the next year.
We'll keep you updated on developments surrounding The Croods 2 as more news comes in, but for now, the sequel is scheduled to hit theaters sometime in 2018. In the meantime, you can fill that Croods-shaped gap in your heart by watching the traditionally-animated Dawn of the Croods TV show on Netflix.
