The action comedy “Novocaine” (English title: Anh khong dau) won the top spot at the North American box office in its first week of release.
“Novocaine” tells the story of bank employee Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid) who was born with a condition called congenital analgesia, which makes him immune to all physical pain. The incident occurred when the bank was attacked by robbers, then the robbers kidnapped his girlfriend Sherry (Amber Midthunder) as a hostage. Eager to save Sherry, Nathan decided to hunt down the criminals himself, using his “inability to feel pain” to confront them.
The film, co-directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, has received an 82% positive rating from 130 reviews so far on Rotten Tomatoes and a "B" on an "A+" to "F" scale from audiences on CinemaScore. However, Variety magazine said it was one of the lowest-grossing North American box office debuts, at least since the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The sci-fi comedy "Mickey 17" dropped to No. 2 in its second weekend, earning $7.51 million. As of March 16, the film, directed by South Korean director Bong Joon Ho, had grossed a total of $33.3 million at the North American box office and $90.5 million worldwide.
"Mickey 17" stars Robert Pattinson as Mickey - a "disposable" employee on a journey to colonize an icy planet. When he dies, he is reborn many times to continue participating in dangerous missions... The film's supporting cast is also extremely impressive with names such as Steven Yeun, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo.
Behind "Mickey 17," Steven Soderbergh's Oscar-winning spy film "Black Bag" came in third with $7.5 million. Meanwhile, "Captain America: Brave New World" finished fourth with $5.5 million, bringing its domestic total to $185.4 million and its foreign total to $203 million. The animated film "The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie" debuted at fifth with $3.2 million.
Top 10 highest-grossing movies in North America last week:
Novocaine - $8.7 million
Mickey 17 - $7.51 million
Black Bag - $7.5 million
Captain America: Brave New World - 5.5 million USD
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie - 3.2 million USD
The Last Supper - $2.83 million
Paddington in Peru - $2.8 million
Dog Man - $2.5 million
The Monkey - $2.47 million
Last Breath - $2.3 million.