It was a good weekend for animated superhero dogs. Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie—the second feature film based on the popular Nick Jr. series—made it ruff, er, rough on everything else at the multiplex this weekend. The Paramount kids’ flick connected with families, to the tune of an estimated $23 million in its debut.
That tally was more than strong enough to top Saw X, the 10th entry in a franchise that refuses to die. Tobin Bell once again reprised his role as John Kramer, aka Jigsaw, in a prequel fleshing out, as it were, his origin story. The latest film in this notoriously blood-drenched franchise once again dished out moralistic messages and macabre massacres in equal measure en route to $18 million in its opening frame.
Next up, we have a humans-vs.-AI sci-fi newcomer called The Creator. But while that premise might bring to mind movies like The Terminator or The Matrix, this PG-13 actioner is a bit more philosophical and even unexpectedly spiritual in its exploration of what it means to have a soul. It managed to create just $14 million in box office revenue, a far cry from the estimated $80 million budget of this film financed by New Regency and distributed by Disney-owned 20th Century Studios.
As the only holdover from previous weeks, The Nun II continued to scare up viewers in its fourth weekend in theaters. The latest spiritually spooky sequel in the Conjuring universe has thus far earned $76.8 million domestically and added another $154.4 million internationally for a total global take of $231.2 million in its month-long run. And with numbers like those, it doesn’t take a crystal ball to predict that the Nun III will likely rise to haunt us again in a year or two.
Finally this week, a spiritual story of an altogether more redemptive variety takes the No. 5 slot. The Blind, distributed by Fathom Events and currently scheduled to be in theaters through Oct. 10, took in just shy of $5 million. The biopic serves as something of an “origin story” for the Duck Dynasty clan, focusing on the dramatic testimony of family patriarch Phil Robertson. We watch as his descent into alcoholism and domestic abuse sorely tests Phil’s marriage to his childhood sweetheart, Miss Kay. It’s gritty stuff at times, but the story obviously takes a redemptive turn in the end.
That’s it for this week’s Movie Monday. We’ll see you again next week, though we’d also love to have you join us this Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. Mountain Time on Instagram Live (@pluggedinteam) for The Plugged In Show Aftercast. We’ll talk about this week’s podcast as well as the new movies in theater for the coming weekend. Come spend some time with our team!
2 Responses
-It makes me laugh that Paw Patrol 2 made #1 at the box office. I definitely wasn’t expecting that.
-A children’s movie coming out largely without competition at a time when a lot of movies are horror movies (and Paw Patrol had enough financial sense to come out two weeks before Taylor Swift’s concert film does) seemed like a safe bet.