The film world has seen one of the largest turnouts in recent box office history with the release of both Barbie and Oppenheimer. While the films did have separate marketing campaigns, audiences were obsessed with the fact that both movies were released on the same day. This led to the merging of both titles into “Barbenheimer.” We are about to see this happen again in September, with the release of Saw X and PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie. Again, people have merged the two titles to create “Saw Patrol.” But will the turnout for Saw Patrol be as successful as that of Barbenheimer?
The combination of Barbie and Oppenheimer did successfully become a meme, but both movies were suspected of being high quality already. Both films also had high-profile stars and directors attached, so there was a certain amount of hype for the films going into their opening weekend. There is a good chance that both movies were going to do well at the box office anyway. With that being said, the Barbenheimer meme definitely helped with the marketing.
Will Saw X and PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie Be Successful?
We know the marketing got people to show up on the opening weekend of Barbie and Oppenheimer because the films managed to pull in $162 million and $82 million domestically. Could similar numbers be in the cards for Saw X and PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie? Probably not. The films are set to release on September 29, 2023, and the Saw Patrol jokes have already started. But unlike Barbenheimer, there isn’t much hype for either movie. PAW Patrol is a children’s franchise, with the movie serving as a sequel to PAW Patrol: The Movie (2021). That movie made $144 million in its entire run – less than Barbie did in just the opening weekend. But it only had a budget of $26 million.
Saw X is the tenth entry in a horror franchise that is known for its mediocre if not bad sequels. But the quality of the movies hasn’t translated into any bad performances at the box office. In fact, the worst-performing Saw movie was the last one, Spiral, and it still made $40 million against a $20 million budget. So, it doesn’t seem like either movie in the Saw Patrol combo will be a failure, as both franchises have a record of performing well relative to their budget.
Ultimately, it’s unlikely that the Saw Patrol idea will get anyone who is going to the theater to watch Saw X to also watch PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie or vice versa because, unlike Barbenheimer, the two demographics that set out to see both movies are polar opposites and for a large majority of audience members, exclusive. Still, it’s good to know that if you are either a young child or a horror fan, you have something to go see on September 29, 2023.
