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,

Wait, wasn’t the impact from the strikes last year? If 2025 is going to be known for anything, it’s which weekend is the lowest at the box office. With Paramount’s new wide entry Novocaine and Warner Bros’ Mickey 17 doing about $8M each (many believe the Jack Quaid movie has the edge),

Making a film that wins Best Picture earns a filmmaker a whole lot of industry clout when it comes to making their next project, and in the case of Bong Joon Ho, he swung big. Based on the book Mickey 7 by author Edward Ashton,

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

Mickey 17” — "Parasite" director Bong Joon Ho’s sci-fi comedy starring Robert Pattinson — is off to a rough start at the domestic box office.

Greenlit in January 2022 under previous Warner film chairman Toby Emmerich, “Mickey 17” is acclaimed director Bong Joon-ho’s follow-up to his Best Picture Oscar winner “Parasite” and carries a reported production budget of $118 million.

"Mickey 17" was No. 1 at the domestic box office with $18 million but the $118 million film will struggle to turn a profit.

Mickey 17 debuted in Korea last weekend to $9M, kicking off on a non-traditional Friday to set the stage for its global rollout. The start was the best for a Warner Bros movie since 2019, as well as Pattinson’s top Korea launch ever.

Paramount's "Novocaine" is off to a good start at the box office with an estimated $8.5 million opening weekend from 3,365 theaters, but the bigger problem for exhibitors is that the marketplace is in such a terrible slump that this is enough for the gory action comedy to take No.