Novocaine: Release date, plot, cast and more about Jack Quaid's upcoming action thriller

Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) will be proud of Hughie (Jack Quaid) if he ever decides to watch Novocaine. The upcoming Dan Berk and Robert Olsen film is a world of pain for whoever is fighting Quaid, who is playing Nathan Caine in the film. That's because he doesn't feel pain; they do.

It will be the first film produced by Infrared Pictures, which is a subsidiary of FilmNation Entertainment. Joining them in the production are Safehouse Pictures and Circle of Confusion. The development likely began in October 2023, as it was then that Quaid's role was confirmed. Other than him, Amber Midthunder, Ray Nicholson, Jacob Batalon, and more are in it.

Paramount Pictures, who will be distributing the film, dropped the first trailer on December 12, 2024. It has already racked up almost nine million views at the time of writing. Fans will notice a different energy in the trailer. Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, the film's directors, explained that out of many references, Leigh Whannell's Upgrade was among them.

When is Novocaine releasing?

The film is scheduled for release in the US on March 14, 2025. Novocaine will be the only Paramount entry in the month, followed by the highly anticipated Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, which is slated for a release on May 23, 2025.

However, the film will have to clash with A24's Opus, where John Malkovich is again playing one crazy role, Skybound's The Electric State, and Focus Features' Black Bag on the release day. Another anticipated movie coming in the month would be Warner Bros. Pictures' Mickey 17, where there will be plenty of Robert Pattinson.

What's the story of Novocaine?

While it didn't reveal the plot, Novocaine's tagline says a lot.

"Meet Nathan Caine, he can't feel pain."

All that's out regarding the plot is that he plays a banker who has this disorder called congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP), making him resistant to, well, of course, pain. In the film, he is trying to save his girlfriend, who was taken during a bank robbery.

Deadline explains his character the best in one of their story that reads,

"The protagonist feels like he’s got a bit of Bruce Willis from Unbreakable and a bit of Keanu Reeves from John Wick."

That is evident in the trailer, though Quaid's character doesn't appear to be enjoying that, but he has to save his girlfriend at any cost. From getting his hands pierced to him picking up a gun from searing hot oil, the audience will feel the pain, but he won't.

The cast of Novocaine

First off on the list is Jack Quaid as Nathan Caine which we have already mentioned in the story. He will be going full John Wick while trying to save his abducted girlfriend, whom Legion's Amber Midthunder is playing.

Jacob Batalon, who played Peter Parker's best friend Ned Leeds in MCU's Spiderman films, is in the film too, though in an undisclosed role. However, by the looks of his character in the trailer, he is again likely to play the lead's close friend. Akin to Jacob, Ray Nicholson, Betty Gabriel, and Matt Walsh are in undisclosed roles, too.

Other confirmed members of the cast are presented below: