Movie theaters haven’t exactly been bustling since the start of 2025 and the calendar year is about to turn in one of its most meagre frames yet. Even with two new wide releases - Paramount’s slapstick actioner “Novocaine” and Focus Features’ spy film “Black Bag” - exhibitors are in danger of a particularly beleaguered weekend,

Five new movies opened in wide release in North American theaters this weekend. And yet it's likely going to be the lowest-grossing of the year to date.

Dan Berk and Robert Olsen's action comedy Novocaine starring Jack Quaid can take some pride that it has earned the superlative "#1 Movie In The United States and Canada," but you'll note looking at the Top 10 that things are going a big slow on the theatrical front these days. Scope out the numbers in the chart below and join me after for analysis.

Jack Quaid’s action-comedy “ Novocaine ” topped a painfully slow weekend at the box office with $8.7 million. For theater owners, however, there’s not too much to celebrate: It’s one of the worst debuts to still capture the No. 1 spot (at least since the pandemic ground moviegoing to a halt).

Novocaine, an action-comedy starring Jack Quaid as a banker who cannot feel pain, topped the North American box office in its debut weekend, industry

Action-comedy “Novocaine” topped the box office in a weekend that saw five movies open widely in North America in which none set ticket sales on fire. “Novocaine,” featuring Jack Quaid as a man who can’t feel pain,

Though Novocaine, Quaid’s new superhero-ish film, is currently leading the weekend box office, that's not as impressive an achievement as it might sound. According to Deadline, the film has only managed to take in a rather unimpressive $8.

To say theater owners are counting the days until Disney's ' Snow White' opens in theaters is is an understatement after a miserable, mind-numbing few weekends at the office.