Theater counts: The Creator lands on top as trio of new films arrive in cinemas

September 28, 2023

After a lackluster few weeks, this weekend sees three new films open wide, along with an even wider expansion for Dumb Money. While none of this week’s new arrivals will likely make a monumental splash, they should nevertheless deliver a fun and competitive weekend at the domestic box office, while providing movie aficionados with a wider range of genres to choose from.

The widest release to grace movie screens this week is from the newcomer The Creator. Beginning its run in 3,680 venues, the sci-fi feature follows ex-special forces agent Joshua (played by John David Washington), who is hired to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of the AI, who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end mankind. The picture is directed by Gareth Edwards, who also directed 2016’s, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which snagged over $1 billion worldwide during its 21-week run. The film will be available on both traditional screens as well as in IMAX.

Another film making its theatrical debut this week is the latest in the Paw Patrol franchise with the release of Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie. Launching in 3,644 movie houses, the latest adventure has the pups gaining superpowers after a magical meteor crashes in Adventure City. The now “Mighty Pups” must band together to stop Mayor Humdinger and Victoria Vance from stealing their crystals. The film contains a talented voice cast, including McKenna Grace, Chris Rock, and Lil Rel Howery, while Taraji P. Henson voices Vance, and Ron Pardo plays the part of Mayor Humdinger.

The last of our new arrivals this week is another franchise film in the form of Saw X. Available in 3,262 locations, the movie follows a desperate John Kramer as he discovers that his experimental cancer treatment is a sham. Equipped with a newfound purpose, the notorious killer returns to killing through his deranged, devious and ingenious torture traps. The film once again returns Tobin Bell as John Kramer, while bringing back Shawnee Smith from Saw VI.

As previously mentioned, adding 2,221 theaters for its third week is Dumb Money. After opening in eight locations on September 15, and expanding into over 600 cinemas last week, the biographical drama has seized over $3.6 million in its first 13 days. The film hopes to capitalize on a much wider expansion this week, becoming available in 2,837 theaters throughout the United States and Canada.

Rounding out the top five this week is last week’s newcomer Expend4bles. The film occupies the third spot among our widest releases, retaining its opening week count of 3,518 movie houses. Lastly, The Nun II drops to fifth this week, but still available in a respectable 2,871 locations.

Per usual, there is no scarcity of limited releases making their way into theaters this week. The largest of these is the comedy crime-thriller, The Kill Room, starring Uma Thurman, Joe Manganiello, and Samuel L. Jackson. Opening in 355 venues, the movie showcases a hitman, his boss, an art dealer, and a money-laundering scheme that accidentally turns the assassin into an overnight avant-garde sensation, one that forces her to play the art world against the underworld. Other films showing in limited theaters this week are The Re-Education of Molly Singer, horror flick, Deliver Us, and the 4K restoration of Stop Making Sense, the 1984 Talking Heads concert film.

Looking ahead to next week we once again see only one wide release make its theatrical debut in the way of The Exorcist: Believer. The Blumhouse productions supernatural-horror is expected to open in approximately 3,600 theaters.

Theater Counts for September 29

Estimates for October 6

Filed under: Theater Counts, Exorcist, Saw, The Expendables, Paw Patrol, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Tobin Bell, Taraji P. Henson, Joe Manganiello, Chris Rock, Shawnee Smith, Mckenna Grace, Lil Rel Howery, Ron Pardo