DreamWorks needs a big hit with ‘The Croods,’ hopes to beat ‘Oz’ at box office

DreamWorks Animation is in dire need of a hit after Rise of the Guardians disappointed during the Christmas holiday season. This weekend, the studio’s next film, The Croods hits theaters and it is tracking for a big opening. It should easily knock Oz The Great and Powerful out of the top spot.

The Croods has so far earned mixed reviews but those aren’t going to stop families looking for a new animated film from seeing it. Entertainment Weekly predicts that the film should open with around $40 million this weekend, making sure Oz doesn’t win a third straight weekend. The Croods is also the first DreamWorks film distributed by Fox under the new deal they signed last summer.

Fox spent $135 million just to market the film and it is opening at 4,046 locations. The voice cast includes Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds.

Oz is expected to slide to second, with around $21 million, notes Box Office Mojo. That’s about a 50 percent drop from last week.

Olympus Has Fallen could finally break a few recent box office trends by opening north of $20 million. If the Millenium Entertainment/FilmDistrict movie makes that much, it could finally be the first hit action movie of the year. It will also be the first Gerard Butler-movie not to start in the basement in years. Then again, people might just be going to see Morgan Freeman as the president. It’s the first of two White House-getting-destroyed-themed movies this year. White House Down hits theaters this summer.

Admission, which stars Tina Fey, is expected to make around $9 million at the most, notes The Hollywood Reporter. The Call should round out the Top 5.

After a great limited release last weekend, Spring Breakers reaches 1,104 locations this weekend. Thanks to the publicity, it could make around $6 million.