‘Wicked’ and ‘Gladiator’ make gravity-defying theater debuts

NEW YORK With a combined global ticket sales total of $270 million, Gladiator II and Wicked revitalized a recently struggling box office, resulting in one of the most popular moviegoing weekends of the year.

According to studio estimates released on Sunday, Universal Pictures’ opulent, high-budget musical Wicked, which starred Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, made its debut with $114 million domestically and $164.2 million worldwide. After Deadpool & Wolverine and Inside Out 2, it was the third-biggest opening weekend of the year.Additionally, it’s a record for an adaptation of a Broadway musical.

Gladiator II, the follow-up to Ridley Scott’s 2000 best-picture winner, opened with $55.5 million in ticket sales. Gladiator II, which cost over $250 million to make, was a major gamble by Paramount Pictures to make a comeback to the Coliseum with a mostly new cast that included Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington. Gladiator II has done well abroad, despite opening slightly below the $60 million anticipated in domestic ticket sales. It brought in $50.5 million abroad.

The two films colliding caused some resemblance to the Babeheimer effect from the previous year, when Barbie and Oppenheimer were released at the same time. This time, the moniker Glicked wasn’t quite as memorable, and there was also a noticeable decrease in the cultural influence. This time, not many individuals looked for a double feature. Barbie’s $162 million and Oppenheimer’s $82 million domestic grosses in 2023 were both higher.

Glicked falls short of Barbenheimer

For Universal, which released Oppenheimer the previous year, Wicked’s victory over Glicked was more significant.

Jim Orr, Universal’s distribution chief, stated, “We saw an opportunity to dominate a weekend and get a very large running start into the Thanksgiving holiday.” We have a strong belief that it will perform incredibly well over the Christmas season and into the following year.

But the counter-programming effect was still potent for Wicked and Gladiator II, which likewise split broadly along gender lines. And it was again the female-leaning release Wicked, like Barbie before it that easily won the weekend. About 72% of ticket buyers for Wicked were female, while 61% of those seeing Gladiator II were male.

Standing on their own, each of these movies may have done pretty much what they did, but it s hard to know, said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. Raising awareness can indeed lead to an increase in box office. Let s put it this way: They didn t hurt each other at all.

Massive marketing campaigns paved the way for opening weekend

While Barbenheimer benefitted enormously from meme-spread word-of-mouth, both Wicked and Gladiator II leaned on all-out marketing blitzes.

The Gladiator II campaign featured everything from amuch-debated Airbnb cross-promotionwith the actual Colosseum in Rome to simultaneously running a one-minute trailer on more than 4,000 TV networks, radio station and digital platforms.

The Wicked onslaught went even further, with pink and green themed Wickedly Delicious Starbucks drinks, Stanley mugs and Mattel dolls (some of which led toan awkward recall). Its stars made appearances at the Met Gala and the Olympics.

We had roughly 400 global brand partners on Wicked, so the campaign was inescapable, said Orr. And our cast, led by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, worked so hard on this. They were everywhere. They did everything we asked them to do.

Going into the weekend, box office was down about 11% from last year and some 25% from pre-pandemic times. That meant this week s two headline films led a much-needed resurgence for theaters. WithMoana 2releasing Wednesday, Hollywood might be looking at historic sales over the Thanksgiving holiday.

The two films boosted sluggish box office performance

This weekend s two strong openers are invigorating a box office that fell apart after a good summer, said David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter for Franchise Entertainment.

Though Wicked will face some direct competition from Moana 2, it would seem better set up for a long and lucrative run in theaters than Gladiator II. Though some have dinged Wicked for running long, at 2 hours and 40 minutes, the film has had mostly stellar reviews. Audiences gave it an A on CinemaScore. The reception for Wicked has been strong enough that Oscar prognosticators expect it to be a contender for best picture at the Academy Awards, among other categories.

Producers, perhaps sensing a hit, also took the step of splitting Wicked in two. Part two, already filmed, is due out next November. Each Wicked installation cost around $150 million to make.

Gladiator II has also enjoyed good reviews, particularly for Washington s charismatic performance. Audience scores, though, were weaker, with ticket buyers giving it a B on CinemaScore. The film will make up for some of that, however, with robust international sales. It launched in many overseas markets a week ago, and has already accrued $165.5 million internationally.

Coming in a distant third place for the weekend was Red One, the Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans holiday movie turned action film. In its second week of release, the Amazon MGM Studios release grossed $13.3 million to bring its two-week global haul to $117 million. At a cost of $250 million to make, Red One is the season s biggest flop, though it could recoup some value for Amazon if it s more popular once it begins streaming.

Final domestic figures will be released Monday. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

1. Wicked, $114 million.

2. Gladiator II, $55.5 million.

3. Red One, $13.3 million.

4. Bonhoeffer: Pastor Spy Assassin, $5.1 million.

5. Venom: The Last Dance, $4 million.

6. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, $3.5 million.

7. Heretic, $2.2 million.

8. The Wild Robot, $2 million.

9. Smile 2, $1.1 million.

10. A Real Pain, $1.1 million.