A well-regarded 2025actionmovie is making a splash on streaming. Historically, the action genre has been one of Hollywood’s most successful, especially since the rise of the summer blockbuster in the mid-1970s. Some of the biggest hits of all time are part of the action genre, either wholly or by blending it with another genre such as sci-fi. These include 2019’sAvengers: Endgame(No. 2 with $2.799 billion), 2021’sSpider-Man: No Way Home(No. 7 with $1.921 billion), 2015’sFurious 7(No. 13 with $1.515 billion), and 2022’sTop Gun: Maverick(No. 14 with $1.496 billion).
However,2025 has so far not turned out very many major action hits. While three of the Top 10 movies worldwide at the time of writing are entries in the action genre, namelyThunderbolts*,Captain America: Brave New World, andMission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, their huge reported budgets make it unlikely that any of them have turned a major profit in theaters. Other2025 action movieshave struggled against their reported budgets includeThe Accountant 2andThe Amateur. While titles such asA Working ManandBallerinahave performed slightly better, 2025 action has been lukewarm overall.
Novocaine Has Topped A Major Streaming Chart
Critics And Audiences Both Liked The Action-Comedy
Novocaineis now thriving on streaming.The action-comedy stars Jack Quaid as Nathan Caine, an unassuming man who has a condition where he doesn’t feel pain, which he uses to hunt down the people who take his work crush Sherry (Amber Midthunder) hostage. While the movie also had a lukewarm reception at the box office, it had a solid critical reception, earning a Certified Fresh 81% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics with an even better 84% audience score.ScreenRant’s own Rachel LaBonte was one of the critics aggregated. Read an excerpt from her 8 out of 10Novocainereviewbelow:
I had some concerns the Novocaine trailer had revealed the funniest moments and ruined some of the charm of Quaid’s performance. Thankfully, that isn’t the case, making for a genuinely hilarious movie that had the audience in my theater positively cackling. A lot of the credit for that goes to Quaid, who fully cements himself as a leading man by deftly intertwining Nate’s polite, awkward demeanor with his growing determination to save Sherry at all costs. His comedic timing is on point the whole time.
The daily streaming chart for the United States onParamount+now shows thatNovocainehas been No. 1 on the region’s movies chart for seven straight days. It has been in the Top 10 overall for 18 days since it began streaming on the platform on May 13. It has consistently outrankedMission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, which has the advantage of having a sequel currently running in theaters.
At the time of writing,Novocaineis one of just two 2025 movies on the chart, with the sci-fi romanceLove Metrailing behind it at No. 7. Below, see the full Top 10 chart for June 19:
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How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days(2003)
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Sonic the Hedgehog 3(2024)
What This Means For Novocaine
It Is Now A More Sure Success
This development is good news forNovocaine, because it seems unlikely that theactionmovie turned a profit in theaters. While its break-even point is unknown, movies often need to earn back two and a half times their production budgets. The reported budget of theJack Quaid movieis $18 million, meaning that it probably needed to hit $45 million. Unfortunately, it only grossed $34.2 million worldwide. However, it came close enough thatVOD and streaming revenue could very well push it into the black soon, if they haven’t already.
