Weekend Box Office: NOVOCAINE Tops Slowest Frame of 2025

Jack Quaid as “Nate" in Novocaine from Paramount Pictures.

1. Novocaine
Paramount Pictures | NEW
$8.7M Domestic Opening Weekend
$10.5M Global Total

Paramount bet big on the R-rated action comedy Novocaine and won the weekend with an estimated $8.7M on 3,365 screens for a $2,585 Per Screen Average. It also managed to best Warner Bros.’ expensive sci-fi flick Mickey 17, which dropped -60% to #2 with $7.51M ($33.28M domestic/$90.5M WW), despite that film having 3,807 screens and IMAX dominance ($1.2M this frame).

Despite some parts of the country starting spring break, it was the lowest-performing weekend of the year so far at $52.6M for all titles. The box office was also over -40% behind this frame in 2024 when Kung Fu Panda 4 was still killing it in its second weekend.

Here’s how the 3-Day looked, including $1.75M in previews…

  • Friday – $3.9M
  • Saturday – $2.89M
  • Sunday – $1.9M

Word-of-mouth bodes well for future frames, including a Rotten Tomatoes critical of 82%, an audience score of 89%, 4 out of 5 stars on PostTrak, and a “B” CinemaScore. Ticket buyers were male dominant at 59% to 41% female, with 55% in the 18-34 age bracket, which nicely countered the older-leaning Black Bag. This one definitely caught on at the last minute, since 74% of tickets were same day purchases as opposed to 26% purchased in advance.

Novocaine took in $1.8M in its first 19 international markets for a global total of $10.5M. Top 3 territories are Mexico ($607K), Korea ($154K), and Indonesia ($126K).

3. Black Bag
Focus Features | NEW
$7.5M Domestic Opening Weekend
$11.76M Global Total

Focus Features’ big glossy spy thriller Black Bag opened on the lower-end of industry expectations with an estimated $7.5M on 2,705 screens for a PSA of $2,773 (higher than Novocaine‘s PSA). In terms of debuts for director Steven Soderbergh, that’s on-par with the opening of his underperforming heist movie Logan Lucky ($7.6M), but less than his last Michael Fassbender spy movie Haywire debuted to in 2012 ($8.4M). It’s also more than his recent movie Presence has made total since January ($6.9M).

Here’s how the 3-Day looked…

  • Friday – $2.78M
  • Saturday – $2.93M
  • Sunday – $1.79M

Here’s a look at demographics…

  • 58% White
  • 17% Latino
  • 12% Black
  • 7% Asian
  • 5% NatAm/Other

Despite Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett being top billed, audiences were predominantly male (56% over 44% female), and as expected the olds came out in force for this one with 59% of ticket buyers in the 35+ camp. You can’t pin the underperformance on critics, who handed Black Bag a 97% Certified Fresh score. Public response was more middling, with an audience assessment of 71% and a “B” CinemaScore. While it would be easy to blame the low opening on marketing, this was essentially a single quadrant movie, and that older age group gets plenty of spy fare on streaming.

Universal opened the movie internationally in 3,044 locations over 37 markets including France, the UK & Ireland, Australia, Mexico, and Brazil where it took in $4.3M for a global total of $11.76M (above Novocaine). Top 3 markets are France ($1.15M), UK & Ireland ($1.14M), and Australia ($572K).

Other Notable Performances

Pinnacle Peak’s The Last Supper, a faith-based retelling of the last days of Christ, took in $2.8M on 1,575 screens for a PSA of $1,794 to place #6 on the charts. It received an “A-” CinemaScore but very few mainstream reviews.

A24’s poorly-reviewed thriller Opus, starring “The Bear”‘s Ayo Edebiri, tanked at #12 with an estimated $1M on 1,764 for a $574 PSA. Launching this one at the Sundance Film Festival in January left far too much time for critics to poison the well.

Indie distributor Ketchup Entertainment bought WB’s The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie and has opened it at #5 to $3.17M on 2,827 screens for a $1,121 PSA. The orphaned 2D animated movie was well-reviewed with an RT 86% critical/88% audience score. Surprisingly, 43% of the audience was between age 25-34 while 26% was 18-24, with only 17% kids indicating it was largely nostalgic adults frequenting the picture.

The #4 spot went to Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Brave New World as it finally surpassed 2021’s COVID underperformer Black Widow ($183.65M domestic/$379.75M WW), taking in $5.5M for a $185.4M domestic total and $388.6M globally. That’s only a -35% drop from last week, with the studio maintaining a 3000+ screen count at Frame 5 to help the movie go the distance. The next rung up the MCU ladder domestically would be Thor: The Dark World ($206.36M) and Eternals ($401.7M) globally.

With $92.8M domestic and at least $125.6M banked WW, Dreamworks’ Dog Man has now surpassed Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie domestically ($73.9M) while just about matching the global gross ($126.4M).

Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates
Weekend 11 – 2025
Total 3-Day Domestic Estimates:
$52,672,455 | (-40.4% vs 2024)

Title Weekend Estimate % Change Locations Location Change PSA Domestic Total Week Distributor
Novocaine $8,700,000   3,365   $2,585 8,700,000 1 Paramount Pi…
Mickey 17 $7,510,000 -60% 3,807 n/c $1,973 33,287,000 2 Warner Bros.
Black Bag $7,500,000   2,705   $2,773 7,500,000 1 Focus Features
Captain America: Brave New World $5,479,000 -35% 3,250 -$230 $1,686 185,396,912 5 Walt Disney
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie $3,170,000   2,827   $1,121 3,170,000 14 Ketchup Ente…
The Last Supper $2,825,000   1,575   $1,794 2,825,000 1 Pinnacle Peak
Paddington in Peru $2,775,000 -25% 2,489 -$596 $1,115 41,318,000 5 Sony Pictures
Dog Man $2,500,000 -26% 2,407 -$346 $1,039 92,818,000 7 Universal
The Monkey $2,465,000 -37% 2,294 -$661 $1,075 35,212,016 4 Neon
Last Breath $2,300,000 -44% 2,661 -$429 $864 18,563,000 3 Focus Features
Mufasa: The Lion King $1,193,000 -28% 1,175 -$285 $1,015 252,438,475 13 Walt Disney
Opus $1,013,273   1,764   $574 1,013,273 1 A24
Anora $640,000 -64% 1,062 -$876 $603 19,909,505 22 Neon
Rule Breakers $433,503 -71% 1,420 -$624 $305 2,642,718 2 Angel Studios
One of Them Days $325,000 -55% 625 -$786 $520 49,229,000 9 Sony Pictures
In the Lost Lands $222,000 -79% 865 -$505 $257 1,744,145 2 Vertical Ent…
The Unbreakable Boy $205,000 -66% 458 -$740 $448 6,242,000 4 Lionsgate
October 8 $190,500   127   $1,500 190,500 1 Briarcliff E…
Heart Eyes $185,000 -64% 523 -$685 $354 30,269,000 6 Sony Pictures
Moana 2 $161,000 -51% 285 -$115 $565 460,233,062 16 Walt Disney
Becoming Led Zeppelin $160,000 -49% 254 -$163 $630 9,804,000 6 Sony Picture…
A Complete Unknown $139,000 -62% 220 -$220 $632 74,762,924 12 Searchlight …
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 $78,000 -44% 142 -$184 $549 236,007,000 13 Paramount Pi…
Eephus $77,094 267% 30 $28 $2,570 107,104 2 Music Box Films
The Brutalist $47,267 -70% 43 -$171 $1,099 16,249,415 13 A24
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl $21,664 1 17 $13 $1,274 42,346 2 A24
The Actor $20,200   23   $878 20,200 1 Neon
Brothers After War $1,270 -90% 7 -$19 $181 166,273 3 SDG Releasing
Jack Quaid as “Nate" in Novocaine from Paramount Pictures.

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