‘Wicked’ and ‘Gladiator II’ Open to $168 Million in Cinemas

(Bloomberg) -- Wicked and Gladiator II, two of the year’s most-anticipated films, brought in a combined $168 million in weekend sales at US and Canadian theaters, kicking off what’s likely to be a strong holiday season for cinemas.

Universal Pictures’ film version of the hit Broadway musical, Wicked finished in first place with $112.5 million in ticket sales, researcher Comscore Inc. said Monday. Gladiator II, Paramount Global’s sequel to the 2000 best picture winner, grossed $55 million, to finish second.

The simultaneous release of two big-budget Hollywood films is reminiscent of last year’s “Barbenheimer” weekend, when Barbie and Oppenheimer drove scores of moviegoers to cinemas. Their combined $245 million opening weekend was a much-needed shot in the arm for theaters and the films’ respective studios.

This year, the hashtag #Glicked was trending on social media, although it didn’t have quite the same pull as 2023, which saw tens of thousands of costumed moviegoers watch the unlikely pairing of Barbie and Oppenheimer as a double feature. 

“The thing that’s really encouraging to see is the critical reaction scores for Wicked are tremendous across every demographic, which points to a very long run at the box office over the Thanksgiving quarter and frankly well into next year,” Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic theatrical distribution, said in an interview. The movie sold an especially high number of tickets in areas such as Salt Lake City, where family-friendly fare often performs well at the box office, Orr said. 

Wicked, made by Comcast Corp.’s film division, is the first of two films in a series, with the second scheduled for November 2025. The picture, directed by Jon Chu, stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as young sorceresses in the fictional Land of Oz who later become the Good Witch of the North and the Wicked Witch of the West, respectively. It scored a robust 90% approval from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. It was forecast to generate about $130 million in its opening weekend, according to an estimate by Boxoffice Pro.

Gladiator II stars Paul Mescal as a slave-turned-warrior fighting to vanquish corruption in ancient Rome. Ridley Scott, 86, returned as director. The film had a 71% average score with professional reviewers. Paramount forecast sales of $60 million, while Boxoffice Pro projected that the picture would take in about $70 million.

“I’m very bullish about how the film holds, we captured a decent percentage of the younger audience that wasn’t part of the legacy audience for the original,” Chris Aronson, Paramount’s president of domestic theatrical distribution, said in an interview. “There’s nothing but family films ahead, and we as an R-rated action movie are an alternative.”

The domestic box office is down 11% from 2023, according to data from Comscore. That’s a reflection of the two strikes last year by Hollywood actors and writers that pushed back the release of some films.

Last year’s holiday releases featured some notable disappointments, however, including Walt Disney Co.’s Wish and The Color Purple from Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. This year, the Thanksgiving to New Year’s box office could be stronger with Disney’s Moana 2 and Mufasa: The Lion King both projected to open to big numbers.

Bob Bagby, the chief executive officer the B&B Theatres chain and chairman of the National Association of Theatre Owners, said in an interview that a young family friend pledged to see Wicked in cinemas at least twice more.

“Our lobbies were full of guests in pink and green and of course a few dressed like gladiators, and this is just the beginning of a fantastic holiday season,” Bagby said. 

(Updates with final weekend totals.)

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