Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and BRON Creative made The Addams Family 2 available for at-home rental in the U.S. and Canada on the same day it opened in theaters on Friday, October 1, as a sequel to 2019’s The Addams Family, which made more than $203 million at the box office.
Directed by Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon and based on the characters drawn by Charles Addams, the film was released in the U.S. via MGM’s United Artists Releasing banner, while Universal Pictures International handled the international release, which was not affected by the day-and-date rental plan in territories other than Canada.
On Box Office Mojo, the sequel distributed domestically by United Artists Releasing recorded a domestic opening of $17,325,007 and finished with $56,489,153 in domestic gross (47.1%) and $63,326,000 in international gross (52.9%), for a worldwide total of $119,815,153.
This historical archive review examines the trailer campaign, hybrid theatrical and premium video-on-demand rollout, voice cast, cross-country road-trip plot, Cinesite animation production, and box office performance of the sequel. Additional historical reviews appear in our Archive directory, and commercial intellectual property analyses are published in our Business section.
Sequel Greenlight, Trailer Campaign, and Hybrid Release Rollout
MGM and United Artists Releasing initially announced plans for an animated sequel to The Addams Family with an initial theatrical release date of October 22, 2021.
On October 15, 2019, following the 2019 film’s successful opening weekend, it was announced that a sequel to the film was scheduled to be theatrically released on October 22, 2021, with Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon returning to direct and Cinesite Studios again serving as a production partner providing CG animation and digital visual effects.
After previously being scheduled for release on October 22 and October 8, the sequel was moved up on January 21, 2021 to October 1, 2021, allowing another MGM title, the James Bond film No Time to Die, to take over the October 8 slot.
In June 2021, United Artists Releasing announced that it did not plan on rescheduling The Addams Family 2 in the wake of Hotel Transylvania: Transformania moving to the same weekend (which later moved to January 14, 2022), and in August 2021 the film shifted its release for online rental to the same day as its theatrical bow in the United States and Canada due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although the animated movie Hotel Transylvania: Transformania had also been set to be released on October 1, Variety reported that Sony Pictures Animation and Amazon were nearing a $100 million deal to send the fourth film in the Hotel Transylvania franchise directly to streaming on Amazon Prime Video instead of launching in theaters.
To promote the road-trip sequel, nine vacation-themed character posters were released for The Addams Family 2 featuring Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, Pugsley, Fester, Lurch, Cousin Itt, Grandmama, and Thing.
MGM also released a trailer for The Addams Family 2 ahead of its simultaneous theatrical and VOD release on Friday, October 1, featuring the creepy family embarking on a twisted road trip in hopes of reconnecting their bond with their children.
The table below summarizes the key scheduling, marketing, and distribution milestones leading up to the sequel’s theatrical and home entertainment releases.
| Release milestone | Verified schedule and distribution record |
|---|---|
| Initial greenlight | On October 15, 2019, following the 2019 film's opening weekend, a sequel was scheduled for theatrical release on October 22, 2021, with Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon returning to direct and Cinesite Studios providing CG animation and digital visual effects. |
| Voice Challenge | The production offered global fans the opportunity to voice a character in The Addams Family Voice Challenge, a contest running from October 8 to November 4 in select markets. |
| Release date move | Previously scheduled for October 22 and October 8, the sequel was moved up on January 21, 2021 to October 1, 2021, allowing the James Bond film No Time to Die to take over the October 8 slot. |
| Hybrid PVOD shift | In August 2021, the film shifted its release for online rental to the same day as its theatrical bow in the United States and Canada due to the COVID-19 pandemic, after United Artists Releasing confirmed in June 2021 that it would not reschedule when Hotel Transylvania: Transformania moved to the same weekend before later moving to January 14, 2022. |
| PVOD pricing | Booked at 4,207 domestic locations, The Addams Family 2 held Thursday previews beginning at 4 p.m. that earned $550K from roughly 2,500 theaters while being made available for a 48-hour rental on PVOD for $19.99, following the 2019 first movie which opened to $30.3M. |
| Disc release | The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD on January 18, 2022, by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. |
| Distributor milestone | The film marks the final animated film to be distributed by United Artists Releasing before being folded into MGM on March 4, 2023, and the final animated film to be theatrically released by United Artists. |
Road-Trip Plot Synopsis and Landmark Locations
In the official story synopsis for the road-trip trailer, Morticia and Gomez are distraught that their children are growing up, skipping family dinners, and consumed with “scream time,” leading them to cram Wednesday, Pugsley, Uncle Fester, and the crew into their haunted camper and hit the road for one last miserable family vacation.
In the film’s plot, before the family, Fester, Thing, and Lurch head on a road trip across the United States, Gomez and Morticia are approached by a lawyer named Mr. Mustela, who claims that Wednesday was switched at birth and may not actually be an Addams, and on the road the Addams family is pursued by Mustela and his employer’s henchman Pongo.
During the cross-country journey, the family is initially set on going to Salem, Massachusetts, before Fester—who is slowly mutating due to the experiment—ends up making a detour to Niagara Falls, and the family later stops in Sleepy Hollow, New York.
To depict Niagara Falls in The Addams Family 2, Cinesite’s team used extensive reference footage to recreate the stonework, railings, and foliage of the actual location and paired it with layered, hyper-detailed effects simulations.
Another important location in the film is Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, which Cinesite’s team rendered in its natural beauty at different times of day alongside the familiar shape language of the film, culminating in its eventual destruction following a series of explosions orchestrated by Pugsley.
Voice Cast, Recastings, and Character Roles
Saturday Night Live alum and three-time Emmy winner Bill Hader and Samaritan actor Javon “Wanna” Walton boarded MGM’s animated sequel The Addams Family 2 from returning director Greg Tiernan, with Hader voicing the new character of Cyrus and Walton taking over for Finn Wolfhard in the role of Pugsley.
Bill Hader and Javon “Wanna” Walton joined returning Addams Family film stars Charlize Theron (Morticia), Oscar Isaac (Gomez), Chloë Grace Moretz (Wednesday), Nick Kroll (Fester), Bette Midler (Grandma), and Snoop Dogg (It) when the sequel was scheduled to hit theaters on October 8, 2021 via MGM’s United Artists Releasing banner, after the first movie grossed over $203M at the worldwide box office.
Alongside the teaser casting announcement, the production offered global fans the opportunity to voice a yet-to-be-named character in The Addams Family Voice Challenge, a contest running from October 8 to November 4 in select markets.
In the July character poster announcement, the cast of The Addams Family 2 was confirmed to include Oscar Isaac as Gomez, Charlize Theron as Morticia, Chloë Grace Moretz as Wednesday, Nick Kroll as Uncle Fester, Javon “Wanna” Walton as Pugsley (replacing Finn Wolfhard), Bette Midler as Grandmama, Snoop Dogg as Cousin Itt, co-director Conrad Vernon likely to reprise Lurch, and Bill Hader and Wallace Shawn joining the cast in new roles.
Animation Design, Screenplay Credits, and Franchise Origins
At animation studio Cinesite, Kevin Pavlovic and Laura Brousseau co-directed alongside Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon, moving into production on The Addams Family 2 soon after the release of the first production.
For the haunted camper van interior, Cinesite’s team created a rich and varied palette of dark and varnished woods, rich-colored carpets, and weathered upholstery, complemented by warm glowing sconces on the walls, jewel-toned stained glass, and a wood-burning fireplace.
Production designer Patricia Atchison and art director Chris Souza worked on a color script to support the sense of distance covered and time passing while supporting the mood and tone of each sequence, so that night-time on the highway would look different from night-time at the Grand Canyon.
According to Variety’s credit sheet dated August 29, 2021, the film carries an MPAA rating of PG and a running time of 93 minutes, and is a United Artists and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer release in association with BRON Creative of a Jackal Group/Glickmania production, produced by Gail Berman, Conrad Vernon, Danielle Serling, and Alison O’Brien, with executive producers Kevin Miserocchi, Jonathan Glickman, Cassidy Lange, Andrew Mittman, Aaron L. Gilbert, and Jason Cloth.
The screenplay was written by Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Ben Queen, and Susanna Fogel from a story by Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, based on The Addams Family by Charles Addams, with editing by Ryan Folsey.
Wikipedia lists The Addams Family 2 as a Canadian and United States English-language production with a running time of 93 minutes, a production budget of $23 million, and a box office total of $119.8 million.
In the broader history of the property, the original Addams Family television sitcom debuted in 1964, based on Charles Addams’ darkly humorous New Yorker cartoons that brought to life the spooky clan living at 0001 Cemetery Lane.
The original television series created by David Levy and produced by Filmways ran for 64 episodes from 1966, blending humor, satire, and a touch of the supernatural around a wealthy aristocratic household that reveled in the macabre.
The animated film project came to MGM boss Jonathan Glickman after producer Gail Berman and executive producer Andrew Mittman secured the film rights from the estate of cartoonist Charles Addams, headed by Kevin Miserocchi, which had always wanted to do an animated film.
For readers examining how studios and commercial rights holders structure intellectual property permissions across territories and media formats, see our guide on Technology Licensing: Field of Use and IP Scope.
Soundtrack, Musical Numbers, Home Media, and Accolades
Composers Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna returned to record the orchestral score for the animated comedy sequel The Addams Family 2.
In September 2021, Maluma, Megan Thee Stallion, and Rock Mafia created a new song called “Crazy Family” while “My Family” received a remix by Yoshi Flower, composer Dominic Lewis performed a cover of “I Will Survive” for Lurch at the bar, and an updated version of Vic Mizzy’s theme from the original TV series plays in the ending.
At industry awards ceremonies, Mychael and Jeff Danna won Best Original Score in an Animated Film at the 12th Hollywood Music in Media Awards, storyboard artist Steven Garcia received a nomination for Best Storyboarding – Feature at the 49th Annie Awards, Charlize Theron’s performance was nominated for Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie at the 2022 Kids’ Choice Awards, and the film received a nomination for Best Animated Film at the 47th Saturn Awards.
The sequel marks the final animated film to be distributed by United Artists Releasing before being folded into MGM on March 4, 2023, and the final animated film to be theatrically released by United Artists.
Promotional Partnerships, Box Office Performance, and Reception
To launch the first animated film, MGM had backed the movie with a $150M global promotional partner campaign, the studio’s largest outside its 007 franchise.
With the Columbus Day holiday in effect and 42% of K-12 schools off for Columbus Day, the first Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan animated production—reported by Deadline as a $40M production—earned $4.8M on Monday for a four-day opening of $35M in second place, beating the $138M Will Smith production Gemini Man, which opened with $23M.
On Box Office Mojo, the 2019 animated film The Addams Family is listed with a $24,000,000 budget, a domestic opening of $30,300,007, an earliest release date of Friday, October 11, 2019 (EMEA and Domestic), an MPA rating of PG, and a running time of 1 hr 26 min.
According to Box Office Mojo, the first film grossed $100,044,905 domestically, $103,000,000 internationally, and $203,044,905 worldwide across 57 areas in its Original Release (October 11 to September 25, 2020), plus $678,926 domestically, $670,352 internationally, and $1,349,278 worldwide across 10 areas in its October 23, 2020 re-release.
Across all releases on Box Office Mojo, the 2019 animated film The Addams Family achieved a combined gross of $100,723,831 domestically (49.3%), $103,670,352 internationally (50.7%), and $204,394,183 worldwide.
For the sequel, United Artists Releasing promoted the film across cereal and snack packages including Apple Jacks, Froot Loops, Frosted Flakes, On the Go JumboSnax, Pop Tarts Bites, and Rice Krispies, alongside a Goodwill TV spot and in-store promotions at 3K locations and the cashback app Ibotta with 40M registered users at 500K retailers.
United Artists Releasing also trailered the sequel across Space Jam: A New Legacy, Jungle Cruise, and Paw Patrol—with on-screen content reaching over 25K screens—alongside a fall candy promotion with AMC, RV AR driving activations with Regal, and a Cinemark Icee promotion.
Ahead of opening weekend, Variety reported that the PG-rated The Addams Family 2 was projected to make $15 million to $17 million from 3,700 theaters in its first weekend in theaters, compared with 2019’s The Addams Family, which amassed $30 million in its opening.
The Addams Family 2 held previews that began at 4 p.m., earning $550K from roughly 2,500 theaters while booked at 4,207 locations and available for a 48-hour rental on PVOD for $19.99, after the first movie in 2019 opened to $30.3M on a theatrical window.
In Sunday studio estimates across 4,207 domestic theaters, The Addams Family 2 posted a three-day gross of $18M ($5.6M Friday, $7M Saturday, and $5.4M Sunday) in second place behind Sony’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage ($90.1M at 4,225 theaters) and ahead of Shang-Chi ($6M at 3,455 theaters, total $206.1M) and The Many Saints of Newark ($5M at 3,181 theaters).
In final box office actuals, the film made $5.5 million on its first day (including $550,000 from Thursday night previews) and went on to debut to $17.3 million in second place behind Let There Be Carnage, then dropped 42% in its second weekend to $10 million in third place and declined 30% in its third weekend to $7.1 million in fourth place.
In Europe, Middle East, and Africa territories tracked by Box Office Mojo, the sequel grossed $13,600,278 in the United Kingdom (opening to $2,736,263 on October 8, 2021), $7,421,660 in France (opening to $1,212,191 on October 13, 2021), $5,122,557 in Spain (opening to $1,093,552 on October 8, 2021), $3,274,130 in Italy (opening to $1,137,247 on October 28, 2021), $1,299,885 in the Netherlands (released October 7, 2021), and $1,099,936 in Poland (opening to $269,015 on October 22, 2021).
In Latin America and Asia Pacific territories tracked by Box Office Mojo, the film grossed $6,710,594 in Russia/CIS (opening to $1,020,798 on October 7, 2021), $3,365,306 in Mexico (opening to $1,141,345 on October 14, 2021), $2,040,262 in Australia (opening to $491,476 on January 6, 2022), $2,033,006 in Brazil (released October 28, 2021), $821,436 in South Korea (opening to $469,988 on November 10, 2021), and $765,202 in Colombia (opening to $161,527 on October 7, 2021).
In opening-weekend audience polling reported by Deadline, the sequel scored a notch below the 2019 movie’s B+ on CinemaScore, while PostTrak exits registered 87% positive and a 73% recommend for parents and 82% positive and a 67% definite recommend among kids under 12, with females making up 57% of the audience, 42% under 17, 38% Caucasian, 34% Hispanic and Latino, 16% Black, and 12% Asian/other.
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 28% based on 112 reviews with an average rating of 4.6/10 and a critical consensus reading “Altogether ooky, and not in a good way,” while Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 37 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating “generally unfavorable reviews.”
Compare the verified production and box office figures for the first animated film and the sequel in the table below.
| Metric category | Verified production and box office record |
|---|---|
| First film budget | On Box Office Mojo, the 2019 animated film The Addams Family is listed with a $24,000,000 budget, a domestic opening of $30,300,007, an earliest release date of Friday, October 11, 2019, an MPA rating of PG, and a running time of 1 hr 26 min. |
| First film gross | Across all releases on Box Office Mojo, the 2019 animated film The Addams Family achieved a lifetime gross of $100,723,831 domestically (49.3%), $103,670,352 internationally (50.7%), and $204,394,183 worldwide. |
| Sequel budget | Wikipedia lists The Addams Family 2 with a running time of 93 minutes, a production budget of $23 million, and a box office total of $119.8 million. |
| Sequel gross | On Box Office Mojo, the sequel recorded a domestic opening of $17,325,007 and finished with $56,489,153 in domestic gross (47.1%) and $63,326,000 in international gross (52.9%), for a worldwide total of $119,815,153. |
| Critical reception | On Rotten Tomatoes, the sequel holds an approval rating of 28% based on 112 reviews with an average rating of 4.6/10, and on Metacritic it holds a weighted average score of 37 out of 100 based on 23 critics. |
Archival Context and Provenance Note
In our legacy migration register, the legacy URL on host chad.bpositivenow.com maps to this archive review page under an editorial requirement to inspect whether external citations were only image-source links and not to restore original movie screenshots without clear licensing provenance.
Under our Editorial Policy and Disclosures, archive entries are newly written reviews based on the sources listed on each page, are not presented as the original article, and are not updated as current news.
Sources
- Variety — MGM Shifts Release Plan for The Addams Family Sequel to Hybrid Theatrical and At-Home Rental.
- Variety — Film Review and Production Credits for The Addams Family Sequel.
- Variety — Box Office Preview for the October Opening Weekend.
- Deadline — Animated Sequel Greenlight and Fall Release Report.
- Deadline — Bill Hader and Javon Wanna Walton Join Sequel Voice Cast.
- Deadline — Domestic Opening Weekend Box Office, PVOD Pricing, Marketing Partners, and PostTrak Audience Polling.
- Box Office Mojo — Release Summary and Worldwide Gross for the First Animated Film.
- Box Office Mojo — Release Summary and Territory Box Office for the Animated Sequel.
- Cinesite — Production Case Study on Animation, Camper Van Design, Niagara Falls, and Grand Canyon Sequences.
- Film Music Reporter — Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna Orchestral Score Recording Report.
- Wikipedia — Production, Plot, Soundtrack, Home Media, Reception, and Accolades Entry for the Animated Sequel.
- MovieWeb — Vacation-Themed Character Posters and Voice Cast Announcement.
- GeekTyrant — Official Road-Trip Trailer Synopsis Report.
- ComingSoon — Second Trailer and Simultaneous Theatrical and VOD Release Report.
- Cord Cutters News — Historical Overview of the Original Television Sitcom and Charles Addams Cartoons.
- BPositiveNow — Editorial Policy, Disclosures, and Legacy Migration Register.
