'Wicked' and 'Gladiator' make gravity-defying theatre debuts

With a combined US$270 million in worldwide ticket sales, 'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' breathed fresh life into a box office that has struggled lately.

With a combined US$270 million in worldwide ticket sales, “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” breathed fresh life into a box office that has struggled lately, leading to one of the busiest moviegoing weekends of the year.

Jon M. Chu’s lavish big-budget musical “Wicked,” starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, debuted with US$114 million domestically and US$164.2 million globally for Universal Pictures, according to studio estimates Sunday. That made it the third-biggest opening weekend of the year, behind only “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Inside Out 2.” It’s also a record for a Broadway musical adaptation.

Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II,” a sequel to his 2000 best picture-winning original, launched with US$55.5 million in ticket sales. With a price tag of around US$250 million to produce it, “Gladiator II” was a big bet by Paramount Pictures to return to the Coliseum with a largely new cast, led by Denzel Washington and Paul Mescal. While it opened with a touch less than the US$60 million predicted in domestic ticket sales, “Gladiator II” has performed well overseas. It added US$50.5 million internationally.

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

“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.

The collision of the two movies led to some echoes of the “Barbenheimer” effect of last year, when “Barbie" and “Oppenheimer” launched simultaneously. The nickname this time, “Glicked,” wasn’t quite as catchy and the cultural imprint was also notably less. Few people sought out a double feature this time. The domestic grosses in 2023 – US$162 million for “Barbie” and US$82 million for “Oppenheimer” – were also higher.

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 per cent of ticket buyers for “Wicked” were female, while 61 per cent of those seeing “Gladiator II” were male.