Explosive weekend for North American box office "rookies"

Paramount's animated family film "PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie" surprisingly topped the North American box office over the weekend. According to data firm Comscore, the film earned an estimated $23 million in North America. In addition, the film also earned $23.1 million from markets outside the region, bringing its global opening weekend total to an estimated $46.1 million.

Film critic David A. Gross called "PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie" "an excellent opening weekend," even though the series about rescue dogs is not a product of animation giants like Disney, Pixar or Illumination. "PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie" (title in Vietnam: "Paw Patrol: Super Movie") has a production budget of only about 30 million USD, so the revenue prospect of this film is quite bright when it "makes a profit" in the first week of release.

The "PAW Patrol" series premiered in 2013 and quickly grew into a globally popular animated franchise, with a line of popular children's toys and video games. The story revolves around Ryder, a 10-year-old boy who leads the PAW Patrol - a group of rescue and emergency service dogs, each representing a different rescue field.

Following the success of the first movie - "PAW Patrol", released in 2021 and grossed over $144 million worldwide - "Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie" begins with a strange meteorite collision. Debris from the collision fell on Adventure City and gave the rescue dogs supernatural powers, helping the PAW Patrol team increase their fighting ability to prevent the bad guys from destroying Adventure City.

Directed by filmmaker Cal Brunker, "PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie" features the voices of Kristen Bell, Taraji P. Henson, James Marsden, Kim Kardashian, Chris Rock, Serena Williams and McKenna Grace.

The film currently has an 82% positive review rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. It also received an "A" grade - the second highest on a scale of F to A+ - in audience polls conducted by market research firm CinemaScore.

The second and third spots in the North American box office chart this past weekend were also occupied by new releases. Lionsgate's horror film "Saw X" opened with $18 million, while 20th Century Studios' sci-fi film "The Creator" opened with $14 million.

"Saw X" (Vietnamese title: Saw 10) is the 10th installment in the famous "Saw" film series. The script of this film is both a direct sequel to "Saw" (released in 2004) and a prequel to "Saw II" (2005). The main plot of the film revolves around a serial killer named John Kramer/Jigsaw (played by Tobin Bell).

Rather than killing his victims directly, Jigsaw traps them in life-threatening situations he calls "trials" or "games" to test their will to survive, through physical or psychological torture.

Meanwhile, "The Creator" is a work of contemporary science fiction, worth pondering about the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

"The Creator" is set in the future, when AI machines are created to improve the quality of life for humans. However, after they detonate a nuclear warhead in Los Angeles, the US government is forced to form a special force to destroy the AI ​​robots.

Critics have called "The Creator" a must-see for sci-fi fans. What sets "The Creator" apart from other AI-centric films - like "Terminator" (1984), "District 9" (2009), "Ex-Machina" (2014) or "I Am Mother" (2019) - is that the AI ​​robots in the film are not just mindless products created by humans, but they have souls and personalities.

Vietnamese artist Ngo Thanh Van appeared in several segments of "The Creator". She made an impression with the role of the robot Kami and left a good impression on viewers. In addition, this film also has many details and images bearing the mark of Vietnamese culture, such as: Vietnamese language, fish sauce, rice fields, terraced fields, limestone cliffs and Ha Long Bay...