Paramount’s “Novocaine” is off to a good start at the box office with an estimated $8.5 million opening weekend from 3,365 theaters, but the bigger problem for exhibitors is that the marketplace is in such a terrible slump that this is enough for the gory action comedy to take No. 1 for the weekend.
“Novocaine” was the top grossing film on Friday with an opening day total of $3.9 million, and its weekend estimate is expected to beat the second weekend of Warner Bros.’ “Mickey 17,” which industry estimates have dropping 60% from its $19 million opening to $7.6 million.
While “Mickey 17” continues to struggle with a $33.3 million domestic total against a reported $118 million production budget and $80 million marketing budget, “Novocaine” has a better chance of turning a decent theatrical profit in this poor market with a reported $18 million production budget.
Reception for the film is also leaning positive with a B on CinemaScore alongside Rotten Tomatoes scores of 81% critics and 88% audience, leaving open the possibility of the film legging out with audiences who can stomach the gruesome violence that befalls Jack Quaid as a banker who can’t feel pain and who are still interested in the general concept of a mild-mannered man becoming an unexpected action hero that has been mined recently by films like “Love Hurts.”
But the R-rated “Novocaine” wasn’t meant to be a tentpole release, and the fact that it is leading the charts shows how bad things have gotten for theaters this March, a month that is usually a mini-summer of sorts.
Overall totals for this weekend have fallen 8% from last weekend’s $56.6 million to just $52 million. Not only is that the lowest weekend total in 2025 so far at a time when business usually picks up from spring break, but the totals for the last two weekends mark the lowest seen in March since 1997, not counting the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.
There will be some help on the way next weekend with the release of Disney’s “Snow White,” which is estimated for an opening weekend in the range of $46-53 million. But that’s below the $57.9 million start of last March’s family film “Kung Fu Panda 4,” and data tracking from analytics site The Quorum suggests high awareness but low interest in the Disney remake, suggesting that the film’s legs will be quite short.
Back on this weekend’s charts, two more new releases have hit the top 5. In third is Focus Features’ “Black Bag,” a new thriller from Steven Soderbergh starring Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett that is opening to an estimated $7 million from 2,705 locations. Acquired by Focus and produced on a reported $50 million budget, the film faces a long road to profitability even with its critical acclaim. Reviews have been very strong with a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score but audiences aren’t quite as positive with a B on CinemaScore and a 78% RT audience score.
Also opening in the No. 5 slot is “The Day the Earth Blew Up,” the first fully animated feature-length “Looney Tunes” film. Originally greenlit by Warner as a streaming title, the film was instead shopped around by the studio following the 2022 merger with Discovery and was acquired by indie distributor Ketchup Entertainment in North America last August.
The Daffy Duck and Porky Pig slapstick adventure is estimated to earn $3 million this weekend from 2,827 theaters, below the $5.2 million fifth weekend of Marvel Studios’ “Captain America: Brave New World.” Reception is largely positive with a B+ on CinemaScore alongside RT scores of 86% critics and 87% audience.
