EXCLUSIVE: It’s happening. No, not Cousin It, rather MGM/UAR already are already planning a sequel to this past weekend’s animated hit The Addams Family with a release date of Oct. 22, 2021. There are no other wide entries set for that date yet.

With Columbus Day holiday in effect and 42% K-12 schools off for Columbus Day, the Conrad Vernon-Greg Tiernan $40M production raked in $4.8M on Monday for a four-day of $35M opening in second place, beating the $138M Will Smith production Gemini Man, which tanked with $23M.

MGM

The Addams Family came to MGM boss Jonathan Glickman after producer Gail Berman and EP Andrew Mittman secured the film rights from the estate of cartoonist Charles Addams. The estate headed by Kevin Miserocchi always wanted to do an animated film.

MGM launched the movie like an event pic with a $150M global promotional partner campaign, the largest outside their 007 franchise. Once Sausage Party‘s Vernon was aboard, the star-power voice talent spilled in with Charlize Theron (Morticia), Oscar Isaac (Gomez), Chloe Grace Moretz (Wednesday), Finn Wolfhard (Pugsley), Nick Kroll (Uncle Fester), Snoop Dogg (Cousin It), Bette Midler (Grandma), Allison Janney (Margaux Needler), Martin Short (Grandpa Frump) and Catherine O’Hara (Grandma Frump).

The pic scored high marks with its 61% driven family audiences with kids under 12 giving the pic 4 stars, and parents the same on PostTrak. The Addams Family, amid a ton of competition this weekend including the opening of Disney’s Maleficent: Mistress of Evil which is vying for families, is expected to hold with an estimated $15M, -50%.

‘The Addams Family’ Review: Still Creepy, Kooky, Spooky And Lots Of Altogether Ooky Fun