“Saw X” couldn't outbuzz“ Paw Patrol 2”, while audiences lacked imagination for “The Creator ”

Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie, the sequel to the 2021 flick based on the popular TV series, is top dog at this weekend's box office.

The animated film had some kinda stiff competition from Saw X, the 10th film in the horror franchise, and The Creator, a visually stunning sci-fi epic not tied to a preexisting franchise or intellectual property.

Alexandro Bolaños Escamilla/Lionsgate; Courtesy of Spin Master.; 20th Century Studios / Courtesy Everett Collection 'Saw X', 'Paw Patrol', 'The Creator'

Paw Patrol, however, had family appeal in a season known more for spooks than kid-friendly fun: When a magical meteor crash lands in Adventure City, it gives the PAW Patrol pups superpowers, transforming them into The Mighty Pups.

Boasting an all-star cast including Taraji P. Henson, Kristen Bell, Chris Rock, Serena Williams, and Kim Kardashian and her two kids North and Saint West, the film pawed its way to $23 million domestically, as per Comscore. Internationally, The Mighty Movie pulled in another $23.1 million, giving the four-legged sequel a global opening of $46.1 million.

Saw X, the first Saw movie since 2021's Spiral, had originally planned to open on Oct. 27, closer to Halloween, which seemed like a natural choice. But perhaps hoping to capitalize on the tonal disparity that made Barbenheimer such a phenomenon, Lionsgate moved up the release date to the end of September, putting Saw in direct competition with those adorable pups.

Those adorable pups were out for blood, however, and seeing as the two films had completely different intended audiences, there was no discernible boost to either. Saw X opened with $18 million domestically and $11.3 million internationally for a global debut of $29.3 million.

A return to form, Saw X is a direct sequel to the 2004 original with Tobin Bell reprising his role as antagonist John Kramer/Jigsaw, only this time with much more screen time.

Taking place between the events of Saw I and II, Saw X follows a sick and desperate Kramer as he travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer — only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable.

"Listen, we're the idiots that killed off the lead after Saw III," franchise producer Oren Koules told EW. "[But] how long can we suspend disbelief when the guy has terminal cancer?"

"I think Tobin has more screen time in this movie than the last five, six movies combined, easily," Koules' fellow producer Mark Burg added. "He opens the movie, he's through the whole movie, and he ends the movie."

Seeing as most big budget films that hit theaters these days are just another installment in a franchise or adaptation of an already-popular work, The Creator faced an uphill battle: being an original idea in Hollywood. Well, relatively original, as the tale of a future war between humans and AI borrows from many movies before it — and also real life, if Meta has its way.

Directed by Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), The Creator stars John David Washington as a widowed ex-special forces agent recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war and mankind itself. Turns out, though, that this life-ender is in the form of a young child.

The Creator grossed $14 million domestically and $18.3 million internationally, for a combined global haul of $32.3 million.

Rounding out the top 5, The Nun II takes fourth place with $4.7 million, bringing its four-week total to $76.8 million ($231.2 million globally). And fifth goes to The Blind, a biopic of Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson, which opened to just under $5 million.

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Related content:

• The next Barbieheimer? Saw X moves release date to compete with PAW Patrol

• Tobin Bell's iconic horror villain Jigsaw finally takes center stage in Saw X

• The Creator imagines a full-scale war between humans and A.I.