‘Paw Patrol Movie’ Unleashes a $13 million U.S. Weekend

‘Paw Patrol Movie’ Unleashes a $13 million U.S. Weekend

Paramount/Nickelodeon/Spin Master’s summer movie Paw Patrol: The Movie wagged its tale to the number two spot in the U.S. box office this weekend. Directed by industry veteran Cal Brunker,  the charming CG-animated pic took in over $13 million at 3,184 theaters Stateside as well as being available for free to 42 million subscribers on Paramount+. The movie was released worldwide last week but added 33 new markets this Friday and added another $12.8 million, bringing its cume to a $21.5 million outside the U.S. The feature is based on the hugely popular TV series created by kids TV icon Keith Chapman, which premiered on Nickelodeon in 2013. It received generally good reviews and nabbed an 84% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

In other animation box office news, Disney/Pixar’s tested the theatrical waters in China and landed at the Number 2 spot with a $5 million opening weekend. The studio’s previous theatrical performer in the country was Soul, which made over $376 million in the territory.

While “Paw Patrol” outpaced some analysts’ box office expectations, it is part of a wider trend of tepid ticket sales for family oriented films.

Sony’s “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway” has garnered $40.5 million in ticket sales domestically and a little more than $100 million internationally since it was released in June, according to data from Comscore. For comparison, the first “Peter Rabbit” film scored $115 million at the domestic box office and $231.4 million in sales from foreign markets.

Similarly, Universal’s “The Boss Baby: Family Business” has tallied under $100 million in sales globally since its July release, while its first film secured $527.9 million worldwide.

These smaller box office results explain why a studio like Universal has postponed its film “Minions: The Rise of Gru” until 2022 and why Sony is reported to be in talks with Amazon Prime Video to sell “Hotel Transylvania 4” for $100 million.

After all, Universal’s three Despicable Me films generated more than $2.5 billion in global box office sales and its first “Minions” film took in $1.15 billion. Even with its streaming service Peacock available, Universal foresees a higher upside from postponing the sequel until next year.

As for Sony, the Hotel Transylvania franchise has collected more than $1.3 billion in box office receipts globally since 2012. Each sequel has generated around $100 million more than the last. Sony does not have a dedicated streaming service, so it could benefit from a theatrical-only release of its film.

Sony can get a guaranteed payout from Amazon that it won’t have to split with movie theater operators.