Box Office Shock: Jack Quaid's 'Novocaine' Leads a Dismal Weekend with Just $8.7 Million

This past weekend, Jack Quaid's action-comedy *Novocaine* limped to a modest box office top spot, accumulating a mere $8.7 million. Unfortunately for cinema operators, this figure marks one of the weakest debuts for a No. 1 film since the pandemic crippled the moviegoing landscape.

Despite five new films hitting theaters, the overall revenue was abysmal, totaling just $52 million, according to Comscore. To put this in perspective, even the traditionally quiet Super Bowl weekend saw higher earnings, with $54 million in February. The sluggish start to the year has hit the struggling theater business hard, which is hoping for a turnaround in 2025 following the impacts of COVID-19 and labor disputes in Hollywood. Year-to-date earnings are trailing behind last year by 5% and are down nearly 38% compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

Paul Dergarabedian, a senior analyst at Comscore, expressed frustration over the industry’s ongoing issues: “The industry is getting fed up with these $50 million weekends that have put a drag on the marketplace. With anticipated blockbusters like Disney’s *Snow White* and *Minecraft* on the horizon, we hope this will be the last weekend in the $50 million range until much later in the year.”

*Novocaine* opened with slightly lower numbers than expected; analysts had projected a debut around $10 million across 3,365 North American theaters. The film also fell flat overseas, garnering $1.8 million from 19 international markets, representing just a quarter of its overseas availability. On a positive note, *Novocaine* was produced on a relatively low budget of $18 million pre-marketing, making it easier for the film to break even. It also scored a "B" on CinemaScore and received an 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, suggesting audiences weren’t entirely dissatisfied.

The plot follows Quaid as an introverted banker who can't feel pain, which he leverages when his love interest is kidnapped during a heist.

In another disappointing showing, Steven Soderbergh's new thriller, *Black Bag*, secured the third spot with $7.5 million despite praise from critics. The R-rated film, targeting older viewers, was a more expensive endeavor for Focus Features, which spent $50 million on its creation. With a current total of $11.7 million globally—$4.2 million from international audiences—*Black Bag* needs stellar word-of-mouth to justify its production cost. The story features Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender as spies entangled in trust issues when one is suspected of being a mole.

A24’s surreal satire, *Opus*, suffered a dismal debut, landing in 12th place with only $1 million across 1,764 theaters, one of the worst openings ever for a wide release. Critics and audiences largely rejected the film, which was made on a budget under $10 million.

In more box office news, *The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie* came in fifth with $3 million, while *The Last Supper*, a Biblical drama, was not far behind at sixth place with $2.8 million. Both films were released by independent distributors.

As for last weekend’s top earner, *Mickey 17*, it fell to second place after a staggering 60% drop, earning $7.6 million in its second weekend. Directed by Bong Joon Ho and starring Robert Pattinson, the film has made $33.3 million domestically and around $90 million globally so far, but it carries a hefty production cost of $118 million. Industry estimates suggest it needs to gross between $275 million to $300 million to be deemed profitable.

Disney's *Captain America: Brave New World* continues its theatrical run, earning $5.2 million in its fifth weekend and totaling $185 million domestically and $388.6 million globally. While it stands as the highest-grossing Hollywood release of 2024 thus far, it still falls short of its $180 million budget, categorizing it as one of Marvel's lower-performing releases.

Upcoming titles such as *Thunderbolts* on May 2 and *The Fantastic Four: First Steps* on July 25 are poised for 2025 releases—potentially the last hope for the industry to regain its footing. Keep an eye on the latest box office developments!