Box Office: ‘PAW Patrol’ Claws Control as ‘Saw’ Rolls to Second, ‘The Creator’ Tapers in Third

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s an eyebrow raiser in the wake of a zany box office season turned upside down by the actors strike, and ruled by Taylor Swift: Universal/Blumhouse‘s feature take of videogame, Five Nights at Freddy’s, is shaping up for an opening around $40M. That would be the second-best opening at the fall box office YTD after Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour‘s $92.8M start. The pic hits theaters and Peacock on Oct. 27.

Merrily We Roll Along, the Sondheim revival starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez, cemented its place among Broadway’s top earners during its opening week, grossing $1,706,962, filling all seats at the Hudson and securing the highest average ticket price with $220.88.

surprise appearance on “Saturday Night Live” a day earlier and the success of Swift’s concert film — estimated to have brought in astronomical numbers at the box office.“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” raked in close to $96 million at the box office in the United States and Canada, movie theater chain AMC said Sunday — making it the highest-grossing concert film for an opening weekend.The biggest domestic concert films prior to Swit’s were 2011’s “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never,” which finished with total earnings of $73 million, and 2009’s “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” cashing in with $72 million box office sales, according to IMDb.The runners-up at the box office by a long shot this weekend were the “Exorcist: Believer,” with estimated ticket sales of $11 million, and the family-friendly animation “Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie,” racking in a mere $7 million.Kelce spent Sunday afternoon at MetLife stadium watching his brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, and his team fall short of a victory over the New York Jets.The Kansas City Chiefs tight end was photographed leaving the “Cruel Summer” singer’s NYC apartment solo on Sunday, decked out in a green tracksuit with white Nike sneakers, black shades, and a backward baseball cap as he hopped into a black SUV outside the songstress’ luxe pad.Despite being a well-known Eagles fan from Pennsylvania, Swift did not attend the game with her new beau.The duo seems to be playing into the world’s interest with their blossoming relationship since both attended “SNL” on Saturday night, with Kelce even featured in a skit poking fun at the NFL and Swiftys’ obsession with their romance.The athlete appeared in a sketch based on a parody of “Fox NFL Sunday,” where the crew

J. Kim Murphy “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” is doing all too well in theaters. The concert film made a cool sum of $39 million on its opening day from 3,855 North American locations, a figure that includes $2.8 million in Thursday previews.

Taylor Swift seems set to do for the UK cinema industry what she has pulled off for the live entertainment industry, ie provide a much-needed cash injection.

Naman Ramachandran Universal’s “The Exorcist: Believer” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £1.6 million ($2 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. In its second weekend, in second place, Disney’s “The Creator” collected £1 million for a total of £4.1 million.

Refresh for latest…: Just as it came in lower than hoped for domestically, Universal/Blumhouse/Morgan Creek’s The Exorcist: Believer didn’t fully convert overseas audiences, summoning a $17.9M international box office debut for $45.1M global. The R-rated David Gordon Green-directed reboot/sequel did see some of its 52 launch markets give it a No. 1 start, while in like-for-likes, the bow is above M3GAN, Evil Dead Rise, Scream VI and Smile. (As regards the latter, recall that it legged out with terrific holds, so the comparison may not stick down the line since scores on Believer are not good, and Taylor Swift is on deck.) 

A24’s Dicks: The Musical had one of the best limited openings of the year, grossing $220,867 on seven screens in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. It expands in NY/LA/SF next weekend ahead of a national rollout starting 10/20 for the R-rated romp directed by Larry Charles (Borat, Seinfeld).

The box office numbers are in for the weekend!

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “The Exorcist: Believer,” a reboot in the legacy horror franchise, opened atop box office charts despite falling short of expectations. The film, from Universal and Blumhouse, collected $27.2 million from 3,663 North American venues over the weekend, below estimates that were closer to $35 million. “Believer” also opened at the international box office with $17.8 million for a global start of $45.1 million.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.The Post called the slasher flick — which stars Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair reprising their roles from the original — “a dud” and “awful.”“PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie” remained in second place with close to $2.9 million in sales.Kim Kardashian, who voiced the character Delores in the 2021 original, returned for the sequel and this time was joined by her two eldest children North and Saint West, who also lent their voices to characters.“Saw X,” which was in first place last week, came in third, earning $2.4 million. Sci-fi action thriller “The Creator,” which was in the number three spot last week, moved down a notch to fourth with a just over $1.7 million take.

J. Kim Murphy Nearly 50 years after William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” landed in theaters to leg out a run as the highest-grossing feature of 1973, a new sequel to it is opening on top of the box office. Universal’s “The Exorcist: Believer” compelled audiences to the tune of an $11.9 million opening day from 3,663 locations, a number including $2.85 million in previews.

Taylor Swift’s upcoming new ‘Eras’ tour film has broken more box office records this week.The upcoming film will play at ODEON and Vue cinemas across the UK and Europe starting October 13, the same day it is released in US cinemas via AMC. The concert film is expected to be available in more than 100 countries worldwide.Directed by Sam Wrench, the upcoming film is described as a “breathtaking, cinematic view” of Swift’s latest tour, which runs through her biggest hits and rarities across all ten of her studio albums.It’s now been revealed that the film has has already surpassed $100m (£82m) globally in advance ticket sales, with more than a week to go before it hits cinema screens across the world.According to the film’s official distributor, AMC Theatres, this total reflects all showtimes, locations and circuits that will be showing the movie, not just AMC (via The Independent).

Broadway‘s starry Merrily We Roll Along revival had another strong run of previews last week, grossing a hefty $1,471,644 and setting another house record at the Hudson Theatre.

Naman Ramachandran Disney sci-fi epic “The Creator” and Lionsgate U.K.’s horror franchise entry “Saw X” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office — and the race was almost too close to call. “Saw X” won the three-day total with £1.92 million ($2.31 million), while “The Creator” was just behind with £1.89 million ($2.27 million).

After several quiet weeks in movie theaters, four films entered wide release over the weekend. “PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie” came out the top dog, with $23 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief A clutch of Chinese movies released for the end of September holiday season dominated the global box office over the latest weekend. Mainland Chinese-produced films took first, third and fifth places across the planet, according to U.S.-based data service Comscore. Comscore shows “Under the Light,” which released only in mainland China, grossing an estimated $54 million between Friday and Sunday.

Refresh for latest…: Here we are with a sort of hybrid weekend at the international box office: there were fresh entries from the Hollywood studios, as well as major new titles timed to holiday play in local markets, and a holdover that’s continuing to rack up records.

SUNDAY AM: Refresh for chart and more analysis Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie is lapping up $23M, a big win for Paramount and Spin Master as the picture is part of a $14 billion global retail franchise which both companies get a nice cut of. And successful movies drive toy sales. It was part of Brian Robbins’ plan when he took over Paramount Pictures Studios to have family brands work at the box office, which also have a rainfall of cash in merchandise, particularly in an entertainment conglomerate that counts the powerful, and evergreen Nickelodeon brand. EntTelligence says Paw Patrol 2 drew 2.3M admissions, with close to half of the pic’s tickets being sold at child pricing.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Paramount’s animated sequel “PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie” topped the box office in its debut, earning a solid $23 million from 3,989 North American locations over the weekend. Those ticket sales were more than enough to rule over the three other new nationwide releases, which could be categorized as the good (Lionsgate’s gruesome “Saw X“), the meh (Disney and New Regency’s sci-fi thriller “The Creator“) and the ugly (Sony’s Game Stop stock-inspired “Dumb Money“). “Saw X” took second place with $18 million, an impressive start for the 10th entry in the long-running horror series.