It was a brutal weekend for theaters.

Despite five films opening in wide release, there wasn't a single film above $10 million this weekend, and all of them fell under their modest expectations. This allowed Novocaine to take the top spot, while last week's champ Mickey 17 had a terrible second weekend drop.

The whole line-up earned a combined $50.8 million this weekend. That's not only a steep 42% drop from last year, but it's also the worst weekend of the year so far. There were so many empty screenings this weekend.

Debuting in first place, Paramount's Novocaine earned $8.8 million in 3,365 theaters. Quite weak, but as mentioned, strong enough to get the top spot this weekend. For reference, Jack Quaid's previous film, Companion, earned $9.3 million in its first weekend.

Even though it hit the top spot, one can't help but feel like the film should've done higher than this. After all, the competiton was insanely weak and Paramount spend a lot on marketing, including a Super Bowl spot. But despite a selling point (an action comedy with a man who cannot feel pain), Novocaine failed to diffentiate itself from other streaming action flicks. The audience simply wasn't big enough for that, even if reviews were positive (82% on RT).

According to Paramount, 58% of the audience was male, and 54% was in the 18-34 demographic. They gave it a very middling "B" on CinemaScore, which is not very encouraging for its long-term prospects. Maybe it can hold on well, but for now, it would be a surprise if Novocaine came anywhere close to $30 million by the end of its run.

In second place, Steven Soderbergh's Black Bag debuted with $7.6 million in 2,705 theaters. This debut already surpassed of Soderbergh's previous film, Presence ($6.9 million), although that film played in just 1,750 theaters and with a far smaller marketing spend.

On paper, this should be a very good debut. But the problem is that the film cost $50 million, putting it in even more pressure to deliver better numbers. This marked Michael Fassbender's latest financial misfire, after the failure of Next Goal Wins back in 2023. It's hard to think on something that could have improved these numbers. After all, the reviews are so damn fantastic (97% on RT, 85/100 on Metacritic). Like seriously, what could've been done?

According to Focus Features, 56% of the audience was male. It skewed old; 59% of the audience was 35 and over. They gave it a middling "B" on CinemaScore, although that's better than Presence's "C+". Generally, a film aimed at older audiences leg out, so perhaps Black Bag could surprise in the long run. Nevertheless, no need to worry for Soderbergh; a few days ago, he confirmed that his new film, The Christophers, has wrapped and could actually premiere this year. Wow, 3 films in a single year is crazy.

After is disappointing debut last weekend, Mickey 17 didn't save face on its second weekend. Despite keeping PLF screens (including IMAX), the film collapsed 61%, earning just $7.4 million this weekend. That's absolutely brutal, but sadly unsurprising, given the film's tepid word of mouth.

Through 10 days, Mickey 17 has made just $33.3 million. And with Snow White premiering and taking away its PLF screens, it's gonna have another steep drop this weekend. WB has also pretty much given up; they announced the film will hit PVOD on March 25, just 18 days after its release date. Right now, a $45 million lifetime is the absolutely ceilling for Mickey 17.

In fourth place, Captain America: Brave New World eased just 32% and added $5.6 million this weekend. That took its domestic total to $185.6 million, and it looks like it might hit $200 million after all. A hollow victory, nevertheless.

Debuting in fifth place, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie flopped with just $3.1 million in 2,827 theaters. That's Ketchup Entertainment's biggest debut, but it's not really saying much, considering most of their films have flopped. We won't even bother comparing it to the previous Looney Tunes films.

This debut is not surprising. WB didn't really intend for the film to hit theaters, it was actually set for their Max streaming service. Due to a restructuring, they decided to shop the film, with Ketchup acquiring it. But still, the popularity of the Looney Tunes appears to have cooled in the past few decades. While Space Jam was a success, Back in Action flopped back in 2003 and Space Jam: A New Legacy failed to connect with audiences. Focusing the film on Porky and Daffy Duck while also omitting other characters like Bugs Bunny made it look like a non-event for many. Simply put, it's hard to ask for better numbers here.

According to Ketchup Entertainment, 64% of the audience was male and 69% of the audience was in the 18-34 demographic. The film failed to connect with kids; they represented just 17% of the audience. They gave it a middling "B+" on CinemaScore, which is quite mediocre for a family film. With competition like Snow White and Minecraft on their way, this film will vanish quickly from theaters.

Pinnacle Peak released the Christian drama The Last Supper in 1,575 theaters, although it made just a weak $2.7 million this weekend. Even with an "A–" on CinemaScore, it's unlikely the film stays long in theaters.

Paddington in Peru eased just 28%, adding $2.6 million this weekend. The film's domestic total stands at $41.2 million so far.

DreamWorks' Dog Man eased 25% and earned $2.5 million. With this, the film has earned $92.8 million, and it's fighting to hit the $100 million milestone.

In ninth place, Neon's The Monkey eased 36% and added $2.4 million this weekend. The film has amassed $35.2 million so far.

Rounding up the Top 10 was Focus Features' Last Breath, which fell from the third spot. It dropped 44% and added $2.2 million. This took its lifetime gross to $18.5 million.

A24's Opus finished all the way till 12th place, where it flopped with just $1 million in 1,764 theaters. This is not a surprise, given that A24 chose to scale back on marketing after the film received weak reviews in Sundance. With a "C+" on CinemaScore, this film will disappear quickly.

OVERSEAS

Mickey 17 added $15.6 million overseas, taking its worldwide numbers to $90.4 million. Its best markets are South Korea ($17.9M), the UK ($5.8M), France ($5.3M), Germany ($2.8M) and Mexico ($2.5M). Not much to be said here.

Captain America: Brave New World added $6 million, taking its worldwide numbers to $388 million. The best markets are the UK ($22M), Mexico ($15.2M), China ($14.4M), France ($13.6M) and Korea ($11.3M). By next week, it should finally hit $400 million worldwide. Respectable number, but not really a success.

Black Bag debuted in 37 markets, where it earned $4.3 million, for a $12 million worldwide debut. Its best numbers were in France ($1.2M), UK ($1.1M) and Australia ($600K). It will continue expanding to more countries, although clearly not gonna be enough to recover its $50 million budget.

Novocaine didn't feel love in the rest of the world. Debuting in 19 countries, it made a very weak $1.8 million this weekend, for a $10.6 million worldwide debut. It had very weak debuts in Mexico ($607K), South Korea ($154K) and Indonesia ($126K/No. 3). Ouch.

With $2.054 billion, Ne Zha 2 has passed The Force Awakens to become the fifth highest grossing film ever.

FILMS THAT ENDED THEIR RUN THIS WEEK

Movie Release Date Studio Domestic Opening Domestic Total Worldwide Total Budget Wicked Nov/22 Universal $112,508,890 $473,231,120 $795,420,331 $150M Companion Jan/31 Warner Bros. $9,300,113 $20,809,101 $36,504,351 $10M

Wicked has ended its run with a fantastic $795 million worldwide. A dazzling result, but the film managed to surpass our wildest expectations. It was not front-loaded as many feared, becoming the rare $100 million opener to hit a 4x multiplier. If this film surprised you, just wait for Wicked: For Good this year to get even higher.

Companion has ended its run after just 6 weeks, with a very weak $36 million worldwide. While the budget was $10 million, Deadline reported that WB spent a further $29 million in marketing, explaining that the film would be considered a success if it finished with $40 million-$50 million domestically. A figure that it couldn't even reach worldwide. Despite great reviews, the audience was very niche, and the film collapsed very quickly. Maybe it will find a life in streaming.

THIS WEEKEND

We're getting 3 wide releases, with a clear #1. But it's very likely all three are heading for some ugly numbers.

After months of bad PR (among other things), Disney's live-action remake of Snow White is finally getting theaters after so many delays. Disney has had success with these films, and they're coming off the success of Mufasa, which made over $700 million worldwide. But it looks like Snow White will be closer to the failure of Dumbo instead. Pre-sales are looking rough and Disney has already cancelled many events in advance, suggesting the film is not gonna surprise in a good way. This film cost $240 million (some estimating $269 million), putting even more pressure.

Warner Bros. is also releasing Barry Levinson's gangster film The Alto Knights, which stars Robert De Niro in a dual role as 1950s mob bosses Vito Genovese and Frank Costello. A notable aspect about the film; it's the first film that was greenlit when David Zaslav took charge as CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery. But with a low marketing spend (the first trailer was released just two months ago), it's likely that the film won't be able to find an audience.

Briarcliff is also releasing Elijah Bynum's Magazine Dreams, which stars Jonathan Majors as a bodybuilder. You may have heard of this film before, and it's because it premiered in Sundance back in January 2023. After earning some great reviews, Searchlight bought the film and scheduled it for December 2023. But then Majors' controversies (and subsequent conviction) caused Searchlight to drop the film. Don't expect good numbers for this film.

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