MGM Hopes ‘Addams Family 2’ Can Succeed Where ‘Addams Family Values’ Stumbled

The first time I remember seeing an announcement teaser for a movie positioned way out in the future was for The Flintstones. It was mostly just the television theme song sung out loud with onscreen lyrics highlighted with a bouncing ball, but when that ball was caught by John Goodman’s in-costume Fred Flintstone, the packed Thursday night audience for Jurassic Park roared with approval as he bellowed a hearty Yabba-dabba-doo. Such a thing would become more common over the next 20 years, such as year-in-advance teasers for Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight sequels and a 13-months-out teaser for Star Wars: The Force Awakens that debuted online and in cinemas over Thanksgiving 2014. And now MGM just dropped an announcement teaser for The Addams Family 2, slated exactly one year from today.

We’ve had fewer of these lately, partially because studios realized (finally) that the majority of pre-release promotion, prior to four or five weeks out, was mostly about preaching to the converted. But this kind of announcement tease, presumably playing in theaters for anyone who shows up this weekend to 101 Studios’ The War with Grandpa, is harmless as a way of signaling awareness and interest, as well as assuring folks that, yes, there will be movies to see in theaters as soon as the storm clears. The tease even references getting back to “abnormal,” which is a nice touch. And with a surprise $100 million domestic (from a $33 million debut) and $203 million global cume on a $28 million budget, MGM would be crazy not to hope for another go-around.

That’s especially true as MGM isn’t exactly drowning in franchises as the moment. For as long as I can remember, their fate has been almost entirely controlled by the 007 franchise. And yes, Creed and Creed II were winners (the former of which was distributed by Warner Bros. in North America) and some of their domestic misses (like The Hustle) did better overseas thanks to Universal. Heck, I’m of the opinion that No Time to Die moved specifically because, while the film could afford to take a hit domestically in terms of overall “rate of return,” MGM is handling North American theaters while Universal is “only” handling overseas. So, yes, MGM announced a sequel to their surprisingly successful Addams Family toon almost immediately after it opened last year.

Again starring Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloe Grace Moretz and Finn Wolfhard among others, with Bill Hader joining the cast, the toon is hoping to avoid the same fate as its live-action counterpart. As you may recall, Barry Sonnenfeld’s The Addams Family was an early example of Hollywood learning the right lessons from Batman and take a well-liked IP and turning it into a major theatrical event (as opposed to just cranking out pulpy comic book/superhero movies). It opened with $24 million (the 12th biggest debut at the time) and earned $20 million in its second (Thanksgiving weekend), one of the biggest non-opening frames on record at the time before legging out to $113 million domestic and $191 million on a $30 million budget.

Truth be told, despite a cast to die for (including Raul Julia, Angelica Houston and, in a star-making turn, Christina Ricci), the film wasn’t all that good. So, ironically enough, despite Addams Family Values offering a sharp increase in quality (with three winning comic plots involving a new baby, a murderous nanny and a trip to summer camp), the allure wore off. Blame the “Tomb Raider Trap” (whereby a much-hyped and anticipated flick is a hit despite not being very well-liked but the superior sequel bombs as a result) or the “folks were only curious once” factor, but Addams Family Values earned just $48.9 million domestic. Now October of 2021 is not November of 1993, but the risk, especially for an animated franchise, still remains.

The Addams Family wasn’t exactly received like a beloved new classic, but it was well-liked enough by those who showed up (it was a painless Thursday evening show for me, my two youngest kids and their cousin). However, to the extent that its success was partially predicated on adults showing up, well, history shows that such a thing may not happen twice. As we saw with Secret Life of Pets 2, Angry Birds Movie 2 and LEGO Movie 2, all of which were as good as or better than their predecessors, an animated hit that draws in adults will spawn an underperforming sequel if the follow-up is treated as just for kids, especially sans marquee characters. The good news is that Gomez, Morticia and especially Wednesday Addams are marquee characters.