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‘PAW Patrol’ Shows Bark at Box Office While ‘The Creator’ and ‘Dumb Money’ Disappoint 

Guinness World Records Adjudicator Michael Empric holds a certificate during the Guinness World Record Breaking Screening in support of "PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie" at the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles, California, on September 24, 2023. (AFP)
Guinness World Records Adjudicator Michael Empric holds a certificate during the Guinness World Record Breaking Screening in support of "PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie" at the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles, California, on September 24, 2023. (AFP)
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‘PAW Patrol’ Shows Bark at Box Office While ‘The Creator’ and ‘Dumb Money’ Disappoint 

Guinness World Records Adjudicator Michael Empric holds a certificate during the Guinness World Record Breaking Screening in support of "PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie" at the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles, California, on September 24, 2023. (AFP)
Guinness World Records Adjudicator Michael Empric holds a certificate during the Guinness World Record Breaking Screening in support of "PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie" at the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles, California, on September 24, 2023. (AFP)

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.

The performances of all four films – “PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie,” “Saw X,” “The Creator” and “Dumb Money” – told a familiar story at the box office. What worked? Horror and animated franchises. What didn’t? Originality and comedy.

“PAW Patrol,” from Paramount Pictures and Spin Master, had timing on its side. The film, a sequel to the 2021 “PAW Patrol” movie adapted from the Nickelodeon TV series, was the first family animated movie in theaters since “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” was released in early August.

The first “PAW Patrol,” released during the pandemic, debuted with $13 million while simultaneously releasing on Paramount+, and its success in both arenas was a contributing factor in leading Nickelodeon chief Brian Robbins to be named head of Paramount. A third “PAW Patrol” movie has already been green-lit.

“Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie,” which cost $30 million to make, added $23.1 million in overseas sales.

“Saw X,” the tenth release in the long-running horror series, managed to bounce back from a franchise low with an opening weekend of $18 million for Lionsgate. The previous “Saw” movie, 2021’s “Spiral,” starring Chris Rock, debuted with $8.8 million and totaled $23.3 million domestically.

But the 10th “Saw” doubled back on gore and brought back Tobin Bell as the serial killer Jigsaw. It came away with the franchise’s best opening weekend in more than a decade and strong audience scores.

The $13-million production was also the widest “Saw” release yet, playing in 3,262 theaters. Since James Wan’s 2004 original, the “Saw” franchise – the flagship series of so-called torture porn -- has made more than $1 billion worldwide.

“The Creator,” an $80 million movie financed by New Regency and distributed by Disney’s 20th Century Studios, was easily the biggest film to launch in theaters over the weekend but struggled to catch on. It grossed a modest $14 million at 3,680 theaters while adding $18.3 million internationally.

The film, directed by Gareth Edwards, stars John David Washington as an undercover operative in an AI-dominated future. “The Creator” drew mostly positive reviews and a B+ CinemaScore from audiences.

Sony Pictures’ “Dumb Money,” expanded nationwide after two weeks of limited release but failed to ignite the kind of populist movement it irreverently dramatizes. The film, directed by Craig Gillespie, came away with a disappointing $3.5 million in 2,837 locations.

“Dumb Money,” starring an ensemble of Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Seth Rogen, America Ferrera and Anthony Ramos, turns the GameStop stock frenzy into a ripped-from-the-headlines underdog tale of amateur traders rattling Wall Street. While all of the weekend’s new releases were hampered by the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, “Dumb Money” would have especially benefitted from its cast hitting late-night shows and other promotions.

Made for $30 million, “Dumb Money” wasn’t a massive bet. But it represented the kind of movie – a mid-budget, acclaimed original mostly targeted at adults – that Hollywood seldom makes anymore. As the industry enters an awards season a year after many high-profile contenders (among them “Tár” and “The Fabelmans”) failed to catch on in theaters, the results for “Dumb Money” may be cautionary for films queuing up.

The weekend’s other notable success came from a four-decade-old concert film. The 4K restoration of the Talking Heads concert film “Stop Making Sense” made $1 million on 786 screens, and surely led all movies in the number of dancing moviegoers. The Jonathan Demme film has surpassed $3 million thus far. Indie distributor A24 promised it will “have audiences dancing in the aisles around the world for a very long time to come.”

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Entertainment

Composer of Piaf's 'Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien' Dies Aged 95

Charles Dumont wrote a classic song for Edith Piaf. CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT / AFP/File
Charles Dumont wrote a classic song for Edith Piaf. CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT / AFP/File
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Composer of Piaf's 'Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien' Dies Aged 95

Charles Dumont wrote a classic song for Edith Piaf. CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT / AFP/File
Charles Dumont wrote a classic song for Edith Piaf. CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT / AFP/File

Songwriter and singer Charles Dumont, who composed the song "Non, je ne regrette rien" ("No, I do not regret anything") made world famous by Edith Piaf, has died aged 95, his partner told AFP Monday.
Dumont, who had also collaborated with American singer Barbra Streisand and French-Italian 1960s star Dalida, died at home after a long illness.
French Culture Minister Rachida Dati called Dumont "a towering figure of French chanson".
A trumpeter by training, Dumont saw his career transformed at the turn of the 1960s when he convinced the star singer Piaf to perform one of his compositions, after having been forcefully refused several times.
"We turned up at her home, and she let us in," Dumont told AFP in 2018 about the day in 1960 when he managed to see Piaf together with his lyricist, Michel Vaucaire.
"I played the piece on the piano, and ... we became inseparable," he said, adding that the song -- which he had written in 1956 aged 27 -- revived Piaf's career that he said had been flagging.
"Non, je ne regrette rien" has since become an unforgettable classic of Piaf, who died in 1963.
"My mother gave birth to me, but Edith Piaf brought me into the world," Dumont told AFP in a 2015 interview.
"Without her, I would never have done everything I did, neither as a composer nor as a singer," he added.
For Dumont, this meeting marked the beginning of a fruitful working relationship with Piaf, resulting in his writing more than 30 songs for her.
'Goodbye young man'
On occasion she straightened him out, like one night after a concert when he complained to her that the audience had not been good.
"She looked me straight in the eye and said: 'It's not them who are bad. It's you who was no good'," he remembered.
The collaboration with Piaf gave Dumont the confidence to approach Streisand, who was already a star in the 1960s and well on her way to becoming one of the biggest-selling recording artists ever.
A music publisher suggested he should offer her his services, advice he later described as "destiny" giving him "a kick in the behind".
He went to New York, and played for her on a piano in her dressing room in a Broadway theater. "She said to me 'I like this very much. I'll make the record. Goodbye young man'," he said.
Streisand released a single with Dumont's "Le Mur" sung in French on the A side, and its English version "I've Been Here" on the B side, in 1966.
Dumont's last appearance on stage was in 2019 in Paris.
"When you come back in front of an audience, who come to see you as they came 20, 30 or 40 years ago and give you the same welcome, then they give you back your 20s," he said.