There's been a lot of talk about "superhero fatigue" lately, though we can surely blame much of that on a series of critical and commercial DCEU disappointments released by Warner Bros.
This year, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, and Blue Beetle have all underperformed, and that's led to yet another box office embarrassment for the beleaguered comic book franchise.
Animated feature PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie has managed to surpass both the Shazam! sequel and Blue Beetle's respective global hauls, something none of us predicted would happen 12 months ago. Remember, it exceeded expectations from the start, beating Sax X when they opened opposite each other earlier this month.
PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie has thus far earned over $148 million; in comparison, Shazam! Fury of the Gods made $133 million, while Blue Beetle holds the dubious honour of being the lowest-grossing DCEU movie with $129 million.
It probably won't manage to catch up with The Flash's $270 million haul despite that going down in history as one of the biggest flops ever released in theaters.
A third PAW Patrol movie is in the works and taking down two iconic DC Comics superheroes is bound to make the animated franchise's creative team feel mightily confident in this series being here to stay.
When a magical meteor crash lands in Adventure City, it gives the PAW Patrol pups superpowers, transforming them into The MIGHTY PUPS! For Skye, the smallest member of the team, her new powers are a dream come true. But things take a turn for the worse when the pups' archrival Humdinger breaks out of jail and teams up with Victoria Vance, a meteor-obsessed mad scientist, to steal the superpowers and turn themselves into supervillains. With the fate of Adventure City hanging in the balance, the Mighty Pups have to stop the supervillains before it's too late, and Skye will need to learn that even the smallest pup can make the biggest difference.
Directed by Cal Brunker from a screenplay by Cal Brunker & Bob Barlen, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie stars Taraji P. Henson, Marsai Martin, Kim Kardashian, Chris Rock, Serena Williams, Alan Kim, Brice Gonzalez, North West, Saint West, Sir Trevor McDonald and Roman Kemp, with James Marsden, and Kristen Bell.
The movie is now playing in theatres.