‘Novocaine’ Holds Off New Arrivals While ‘Mickey 17’ and ‘Brave New World’ Slip

Jack Quaid’s latest action thriller took the top spot at the box office this weekend despite opening with less than $10 million domestically. With exactly $8.7 million in earnings coming from stateside markets and $1.8 million internationally, Novocaine led the slowest weekend of the year at the box office thus far, which saw the total collective gross of every movie playing in theaters land at $50 million. This has been well over $100 million for some weekends of the year, but even with three new arrivals and other major blockbusters playing in theaters, Novocaine’s $8.7 million was the best the domestic box office could return this weekend. The film also stars Prey breakout Amber Midthunder and MCU Spider-Man star Jacob Batalon.

Novocaine barely boasts a $1 million lead over the second and third-place competitors at the box office this weekend. Finishing in the #2 spot is Mickey 17, the comedic sci-fi epic from Academy Award-winner Bong Joon Ho that hauled in $7.5 million during its second weekend in theaters, a startling 60% drop from last weekend where it earned $19 million. Mickey 17 now sits at $33 million in domestic markets and $34 million internationally for a worldwide cumulative haul of $67 million. Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag fell suit behind Mickey 17 this weekend with a $7.5 million domestic opening, and strong reviews for the film certainly helped box office turnout. Black Bag also added $4.2 million from foreign markets this weekend to help push its global total to $11.7 million. The spy thriller stars Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett.

Picking up the third and fourth-place spots at the box office this weekend are Captain America: Brave New World and The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie. The former, which features Anthony Mackie’s big-screen debut as the Star Spangled Man, grossed $5.4 million in its fifth weekend in theaters, a 34% drop from last weekend’s $8.3 million. Brave New World has now collected $185 million domestically and $203 million internationally for a $388 million global total. As for the animated Looney Tunes movie, it debuted with $3.1 million this weekend at the domestic box office, and it has also earned $840,000 in foreign markets to help it reach the $4 million mark worldwide. The film was directed by Peter Browngardt and stars Eric Bauza and Candi Milo.

A24 Struggles To Find Success With ‘Opus’ While ‘Mufasa’ and ‘Paddington’ Continue Earning

A24’s new horror thriller, Opus, which stars Ayo Edebiri and John Malkovich, debuted in over 1,750 theaters this weekend but grossed only $1 million, giving it a per-screen total of $574, the worst of any movie in the top 12. With a streaming release on the horizon, Mufasa: The Lion King added another $1 million to its total, only falling 28% from last weekend and helping boost its worldwide cumulative haul to $714 million. Paddington in Peru also narrowly missed out on a spot in the top five at the box office this weekend with another $2.4 million. The Ben Whishaw-led film has now grossed over $180 million globally thanks to a $142 million international total.

Similar to this past weekend, which saw Novocaine, Black Bag, and Opus debut, three new movies are coming to theaters this weekend. The biggest is Snow White, the live-action Disney remake of the 1937 classic that puts Rachel Zegler in the lead role of the Disney princess with Gal Gadot starring opposite her. Robert De Niro stars in the dual roles of Vito Genovese and Frank Costello in The Alto Nights, which is also coming to theaters this weekend, along with Locked, a psychological horror thriller starring Bill Skarsgård and Anthony Hopkins. Jonathan Majors’ Magazine Dreams will also receive a limited theatrical release this weekend.