'Novocaine' Likely to Lead a Slow Weekend in Theaters

Last weekend was a disappointing one for theater owners as the sci-fi comedy Mickey 17 had a modest debut that was bad news given its big budget. This week, another action comedy, Novocaine, hits theaters and is likely to do even less well. It should still lead the weekend, though, thanks to the pack of struggling hold-overs that are still filling theaters. Read on for details.

Via Variety.

Jack Quaid-led action comedy “Novocaine” will vie with last weekend’s champion “Mickey 17” for the top spot on box office charts.

Based on projections, “Novocaine” should lead the way with $10 million to $12 million from 3,300 North American theaters in its first weekend of release. The film, from Paramount Pictures, cost $18 million. In “Novocaine,” Quaid plays an introverted everyman with the inability to feel pain, which he uses to his advantage after his dream girl is taken hostage in a bank robbery.

Those ticket sales should be enough to topple “Mickey 17,” which is expected to decline by 55% to 60% from its $19 million debut, putting second-weekend revenues around $8 million to $9 million. So far, the dystopian sci-fi comedy from Bong Joon Ho and Robert Pattinson has generated $20.5 million domestically and $54 million globally. Those grosses aren’t bad for an original, offbeat film in this theatrical landscape — except that “Mickey 17” cost $118 million to produce and requires around $275 million to $300 million worldwide to get into the black during its big screen run, according to rival executives with knowledge of similar productions.

This weekend’s other new releases — Steven Soderbergh’s sleek, R-rated thriller “Black Bag” and Ayo Edebiri and John Malkovich’s surrealist satire “Opus” — aren’t expected to pack a punch with single-digit starts. “Black Bag” is aiming for $7 million to $8 million from 2,705 venues while “Opus” will settle for $2 million to $4 million from 1,300 cinemas.

Meanwhile, Disney’s Marvel sequel “Captain America: Brave New World” is projected to add around $5 million in its fifth weekend on the big screen. The superhero adventure, starring Anthony Mackie, has earned $177 million domestically and $370.8 million worldwide, which is enough to rank as the biggest Hollywood release of the year but isn’t nearly enough to offset its massive $180 million price tag.

At this rate, “Captain America: Brave New World” will wind up as one of the lowest-grossing Marvel movies of all time.

Get the rest of the story at Variety.