‘PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie’ Just Set a Franchise Box Office Record

Family audiences have had no shortage of options at the multiplex lately, with dinosaur-themed releases suddenly dominating theaters alongside Marvel’s biggest hit of the year. That crowded field made this past weekend’s box office battle especially interesting, as two competing prehistoric adventures went head-to-head for family attention while ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ continued its historic third-weekend run at the top of the domestic charts.

One of those newcomers, Warner Bros.’ ‘The End of Oak Street,’ arrived with an $80 million budget and star power from Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor. The other, Paramount’s ‘PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie,’ came in with a considerably smaller $39.5 million budget and a built-in preschool fanbase already familiar with the franchise’s canine heroes.

Despite the size difference, ‘PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie‘ pulled off a genuine surprise. The film scored $7.35 million on its Friday opening day, according to Deadline, marking a franchise record when combined with $1.9 million in Thursday preview earnings. That performance topped both 2021’s original ‘PAW Patrol: The Movie,’ which opened with $4.5 million, and 2023’s ‘PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie,’ which debuted with $6.8 million.

With strong word of mouth building throughout opening day, industry estimates put the film’s three-day domestic opening weekend somewhere between $20 million and $25 million, a projection that would put it in the same range as, or even ahead of, ‘The End of Oak Street’ despite that film’s significantly larger budget and starrier cast.

That strong reception wasn’t limited to opening numbers alone. ‘PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie’ earned an A CinemaScore from opening night audiences, matching the score received by ‘The Mighty Movie’ and improving on the A- earned by the franchise’s very first film back in 2021. Rentrak and Screen Engine PostTrak exit polling also showed a strong 63% definite recommend rating for the new film.

The movie has performed just as well internationally, adding over $38 million across roughly 52 overseas markets even before its full domestic weekend numbers were finalized. Strong openings in China, France, the UK, and Germany have contributed to that overseas haul, continuing a pattern where ‘PAW Patrol’ films have historically overperformed outside North America relative to their domestic totals, a trend the franchise’s merchandising and streaming presence has only reinforced over time.

‘PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie’s’ success comes in a particularly competitive stretch for the genre, with ‘The End of Oak Street’ opening the same weekend and ‘The Odyssey’ still holding strong in its fifth week of release. Directed by Cal Brunker, the film sends the PAW Patrol pups to a tropical island filled with dinosaurs after their ship gets caught in a mysterious storm, pitting them against their recurring rival Mayor Humdinger as he threatens to destroy the island’s ecosystem through reckless mining.

Given how well the previous installment performed, with ‘The Mighty Movie’ eventually grossing $205 million worldwide against a $30 million budget, this latest entry appears well-positioned to continue that trajectory if positive word of mouth keeps carrying it through the coming weeks. With three dinosaur-adjacent releases now competing for the same family audience, this record-setting opening suggests the built-in loyalty of the ‘PAW Patrol’ brand remains a genuine box office advantage, one that smaller budgets and franchise familiarity can still outmaneuver flashier, star-driven competition.

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