'Saw Patrol': Are 'Saw X' and the 'PAW Patrol' sequel the next 'Barbenheimer'? How the unlikely blockbuster pairing could shake up the box office.

Just over two months ago, Barbenheimer became the box-office success story of 2023 by driving fans to embrace two wildly different films: Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. What started out as a humorous meme powered Barbie to become the most successful movie that Warner Bros. has ever made, with $631.4 million domestic and $1.428 billion worldwide. Universal’s Oppenheimer may have come in second to Barbie on that opening weekend, but the acclaimed biopic has grossed $321.7 million in the U.S. and a very impressive $928.3 million overall.

Barbenheimer may be a hard phenomenon to recreate, but that hasn’t stopped movie lovers from coming up with a new meme for this weekend's two big films: PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie and Saw X.

Thus, "Saw Patrol" was born.

PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie is based on the long-running PAW Patrol kids' animated series on Nickelodeon and is the second feature film in the franchise, while Saw X is the 10th movie in the gruesome horror series to hit theaters. If anything, these two films are even more mismatched than Barbie and Oppenheimer. And that may turn Saw Patrol into an even more unlikely double feature. But the real question is whether the meme can lift both films to even greater success this weekend.

Let the games begin

As with Barbenehimer, Saw Patrol’s biggest presence is on social media where fans have been sharing mashup artwork. That includes pics that place the adorable dogs of PAW Patrol into Jigsaw’s iconic death traps.

Even the official Saw account on X, formerly Twitter, has had a little fun with Saw Patrol by choosing Jigsaw’s next targets in a very colorful way.

Why are these movies opening on the same date?

Counter-programming. As noted above, there’s not a lot of crossover between the young PAW Patrol audience and the adult viewers who enjoy watching the bloody and twisted antics of Jigsaw in the Saw movies. Paramount and Lionsgate probably didn’t believe that either film would affect the performance of their respective movies. Horror fans can stick to Saw X, while families with kids will likely gravitate to the superpowered rescue pups. It’s potentially a win-win scenario for the two studios by keeping both movies on the same opening day. Even more so if Saw Patrol does somehow manage to drive up the box office for both movies.

What are the critics saying?

The Hollywood Reporter notes that Saw X has the best reviews in the history of the franchise, and (as of this posting) a Rotten Tomatoes score of 86%. In Variety’s review of the movie, critic Owen Gleiberman writes that “Saw X, the 10th entry in the now two-decade-old series, comes closer than most of the Saw films to being an actual movie. ... It lends the plot and locale an organic unity. And John Kramer, who is now suffering from terminal brain cancer, is so front and center that Tobin Bell has never given such a full-scale performance as the human behind Jigsaw.”

PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie is also currently sitting at 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. The Hollywood Reporter’s reviewer, Frank Scheck, praised PAW Patrol’s subplot for Mckenna Grace’s Skye, the smallest member of the team, as she faces her feelings of inferiority and insecurity. However, Scheck was less than charmed by the rest of the movie: “Unfortunately, much of the film’s running time is taken up not with heartwarming stories like this but rather the sort of typically mind-numbing action sequences stuffing adult live-action superhero franchises. Some of them are pretty spectacular animation-wise. ... But the frenetic mayhem becomes tiresome in its repetitiveness, although kids already hopped up on candy and soda will presumably not mind at all.”

Who won the opening round: PAW Patrol or Saw X?

Via The Hollywood Reporter, Saw X was the winner by default on Thursday night. PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie sat out of the early preview screenings on Thursday, leaving Saw X largely an uncontested field aside from Gareth Edwards’s new sci-fi film, The Creator. Saw X took in $2 million in preview screenings, followed by The Creator’s $1.6 million preview numbers.

The real showdown starts Friday when PAW Patrol officially opens in theaters.

Which movie will be top dog this weekend?

Unlike Barbenheimer, this box-office race may come down to the wire. Variety notes that PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie is projected to make $18 million to $20 million and just edge out Saw X’s $15 million to $18 million.

So, case closed? Not quite. Variety notes that rival projections have Saw X rising as high as $20 million to $25 million for the weekend, which would be a decisive victory for Jigsaw over the cartoon dogs.

But ultimately, it’s the moviegoers who will determine the winner of this battle. We’re just here for the memes.

Saw X and PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, aka Saw Patrol, unite in theaters Friday, Sept. 29.