While adult audiences flock to theaters to catch the new Martin Scorsese joint, and Swifties returned for a second helping of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, Paramount’s PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie is continuing to provide counter-programming amid a totally barren theatrical landscape for young children. The animated sequel retained a spot in the top five at the domestic box office this weekend, as it neared a massive total globally.

Having played in theaters for over three weeks, the film has grossed $56 million domestically and $92 million from 66 overseas markets, for a cumulative global haul of $148 million. With this, PAW Patrol 2 has passed the first film both domestically and worldwide. A spinoff of the wildly lucrative television franchise, the first PAW Patrol movie finished its theatrical run with $40 million domestically and $144 million worldwide.

It must, however, be noted that the original PAW Patrol was released day-and-date on the Paramount+ streaming service, at a far scarier time during the pandemic. But the marketplace has always underserved young audiences, and Paramount capitalized on a relatively lean period rather astutely. And the bet paid off; PAW Patrol 2 has raked in nearly five times its reported $30 million production budget.

Studios Ought to Make More Movies for Kids
Image via Paramount Pictures

The last hit aimed squarely at children was The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which grossed over $1.36 billion worldwide earlier this year. Pixar’s Elemental bounced back after a soft debut and grossed nearly $500 million worldwide some weeks later. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem were no doubt aimed at slightly older audiences, but they managed to gross a combined total of nearly $900 million.

Directed by Cal Brunker, both PAW Patrol movies have been similarly well-reviewed. While the first film has an 80% score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Paw Patrol 2 earned a 76% approval rating. The movie features the voice talents of Mckenna Grace, Taraji P. Henson, Marsai Martin, Christian Convery, Ron Pardo, Lil Rel Howery, Kim Kardashian, Chris Rock, Serena Williams, James Marsden, Kristen Bell and Finn Lee-Epp. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates and until then, follow the link to learn everything we know about PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie.