J. Kim Murphy There was one key question gripping the box office heading into this weekend: would audiences be PAWing, or would they be Sawing?
In a crowded September capper with four new wide releases, Paramount’s “PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie” looks to come out on top.
The animated feature is edging out Lionsgate’s horror entry “Saw X” to lead domestic charts. Meanwhile, Disney’s original science-fiction adventure “The Creator” will have to settle for third place, while Sony’s “Dumb Money” is floundering in its nationwide expansion.
After skipping Thursday preview screenings, the “PAW Patrol” sequel unleashed $6.8 million from 3,989 theaters on Friday. That’s an impressive boost above the 2021 original’s $4.5 million opening day — a testament to Paramount and subsidiary Nickelodeon’s careful cultivation of this property since its 2013 debut as a television series. “The Mighty Movie” is now looking to bark up a $22.5 million opening, coming in above initial projections that had predicted a high-teens bow.
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