People and their dogs attend the Guinness World Record Breaking Screening in support of PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie at the Autry Museum of the American West on Sept. 24 in Los Angeles.VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images
As cartoon leader Ryder might say – and as your children have probably come to repeat, ad nauseam – the Paw Patrol is on a roll.
This past weekend, Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie, the sequel to the 2021 animated hit, topped the North American box office with a haul of US$23-million. But the Canadian film, which beat such heavyweight Hollywood contenders as Saw X and The Creator for the top spot, also hit rare milestones for a homegrown production.
Not only does the movie’s weekend haul make it the largest North American opening for a Canadian film in more than a decade, but the sequel also earned an impressive $1.9-million in Canada alone, making up 8.6 per cent of the total North American box office.
“We chose a traditional theatrical approach for the first film, which led to results that were double the normal Canadian percentage on a film like this. Alongside our partners Paramount and Spin Master, we were confident that audiences would be eager for the second film in the franchise,” Noah Segal, co-president of the film’s Canadian distributor Elevation Pictures, said in a statement. “Our theatrical partners believed in the power of the Paw as well, opening it on over 400 screens, which was a record-breaking screen count for a Canadian film.”
The Mighty Movie is directed by Canadian Cal Brunker, written by Canadians Brunker and Bob Barlen, producer by Canadian entertainment giant Spin Master, animated largely by Montreal’s Mikros studio, and voiced by Canadian performers including veteran comic actor Ron Pardo. Days before the film was released, it was announced that a third movie is in the works from the same creative team, set for release in 2026.
The last time that a Canadian film topped the North American box office with such force was 2010′s Resident Evil: Afterlife, which earned US$26.6-million (unadjusted for inflation) during its opening weekend. That film, a Canadian-German co-production that was shot in Toronto and grossed almost US$300-million worldwide, currently holds the record for the most financially successful Canadian-produced movie ever.
Barry Hertz