"Novocaine" is off to a good start at the box office with an estimated $8.5 million opening weekend, but the marketplace is in a terrible slump.

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,

Thank, God, for Snow White next weekend, right? Who knew with that movie’s controversy we’d be saying that!? However, the industry should be thankful. If Snow White pulls off a $50M+ opening, that’s a respectable bump for what is a barren desert of a business right now.