DreamWorks has firmed up some of their upcoming slate and it is a little surprising, for various reasons. Croods 2 is now set for release on September 18, 2020, and Spooky Jack is set for a September 17, 2021, release. Last year, it was reported that the studio canceled The Croods 2, despite the fact that the movie was a big financial success. For some reason, that has changed and now the sequel is on track for release in a few years.

The Croods was released in 2013 and made a very impressive $587.2 million worldwide. Even though it seemed, for whatever reason, they weren't going to do the sequel, DreamWorks Animation has had a change of heart and The Croods 2 is back on. Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Cloris Leachman and Clark Duke are all set to reprise their roles for the sequel, with Leslie Mann set to join the cast this time around. In the sequel, they will be dealing with another prehistoric family, which looks to shake things up quite a bit.

The Croods 2 seems to make sense for financial reasons, but it was also reasonably successful critically. The movie currently has a 71 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was nominated for an Academy Award. Seven years is going to make for a long gap between sequels, but Netflix has been producing an animated series based on The Croods since 2015. So that could help keep the brand popular enough until the sequel arrives.

Moving on to Spooky Jack, this is a new, original story from DreamWorks. The movie follows three siblings who move into an eerie new home and discover that all the creatures we've been told don't exist, do. They must handle some unusual squatters from mischievous leprechauns and the elusive Big Foot to a shy Boogeyman that won't stop going bump in the night. This is going to be a comedic look at all of the creatures kids are usually scared of and what they fear could be looming under the bed. It sounds like this could be a fun combination of fun and scary, possibly existing in the same vein as something like Monsters Inc.

Spooky Jack doesn't have a director attached yet, but the rest of the creative team in place. Perhaps most telling is that Jason Blum, producer of the Paranormal Activity and The Purge franchises, among other big horror movies, is on board to executive produce this new animated feature for DreamWorks. Spooky Jack was written by Robert Ben Garant (Night at the Museum, The Pacifier), with DreamWorks' Damon Ross on board to produce for the studio. Since the movie isn't slated to hit theaters for another four years, they will have plenty of time to get a director on board. No casting information has been revealed for Spooky Jack at this time.