Alvin, Simon and Theodore return to the big screen right before the holidays for the 'squeakquel' to their 2007 hit. The trio of squeaky-voiced singing rodents (voiced by Justin Long, Jesse McCartney and Matthew Gray Gubler) are left in the care of Dave's 20-something year old nephew Toby (Zachary Levi) after another one of their schemes goes wrong, leaving Dave (Jason Lee) in a body cast for much of the movie. In the midst of this, they are forced to juggle the trials of middle school, superstardom and their new rivals-the hot new girl group the Chippettes (Christina Applegate, Amy Poehler and Anna Farris); put together by David Cross, reprising his role as the evil music executive Ian Hawke.
As with the first film, the 'squeakquel' has generated poor to fair reviews by critics. However, this PG-rated children's movie is just that-a children's movie. Even with its poor reviews, the 2007 original brought in $359 million worldwide; nearly six times its $60 million production budget. Opening in theaters just 2 days before Christmas, the film is one of the only newly-released children's films in theaters (aside from 3-week old Princess and the Frog) so it can be expected to fare well at the box office.
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Guide to this year's Christmas Day releases
Weekend box office roundup 12/11-12/13
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