Kid flick ‘Paw’ beats blood-soaked ‘Saw’ in box office race

Paramount’s new kids’ movie Paw Patrol 2: The Mighty Movie bounded to the top of the North American box office this weekend, with a tail-wagging take estimated at $23 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.

The film has the hard-working Paw Patrol pups – now endowed with superpowers – fighting again to save Adventure City. Voice actors include Taraji P. Henson, Chris Rock, Serena Williams, and McKenna Grace.

In second place for the Friday-through-Sunday period was another new release, Lionsgate horror film Saw X. It sold an estimated $18 million in tickets, not a bad weekend for a film made for just $13 million.

The film is the first in the violence-filled Saw series to score overwhelmingly positive reviews, according to Variety. Tobin Bell, as the infamous Jigsaw, this time kidnaps doctors as he takes on greedy medical con artists.

New 20th Century sci-fi thriller The Creator came in third, at $14 million. Its of-the-moment setting: a world where humans are at war with artificial intelligence.

John David Washington plays a special agent sent to kill the titular Creator. Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, and Allison Janney also star.

In fourth was the box office leader of the past three weekends, The Nun II from Warner Bros., at $4.7 million. This Conjuring series spinoff stars Taissa Farmiga in a tale of Gothic horror.

And in fifth was another new release, Fathom Events’ faith-based The Blind, at $4.1 million. Set in the Louisiana swamps in the 1960s, it portrays the real-life struggles of Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson with addiction and romance.