Jack Quaid’s action-comedy “ Novocaine ” topped a painfully slow weekend at the box office with $8.7 million. For theater owners, however, there’s not too much to celebrate: It’s one of the worst debuts to still capture the No. 1 spot (at least since the pandemic ground moviegoing to a halt).

Dan Berk and Robert Olsen's action comedy Novocaine starring Jack Quaid can take some pride that it has earned the superlative "#1 Movie In The United States and Canada," but you'll note looking at the Top 10 that things are going a big slow on the theatrical front these days. Scope out the numbers in the chart below and join me after for analysis.

Quaid's leading role in Novocaine feels like a natural continuation of these genre-bent everymen. He plays Nathan Caine, a mild-mannered assistant bank manager who has congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA), a genetic disorder that impacts his nervous system to the point that he can't feel pain or temperature.