'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' make $164.2 million global debut; record third-biggest opening weekend of 2024

Published On : 2024-11-25T07:34:57+0530 [ IST ] | Author : Mayur_Tembhare
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With a combined $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.

The lavish big-budget musical "Wicked" starring Ariana Grande Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo debuted with $114 million domestically and $164.2 million globally for Universal Pictures. That made it the third-biggest opening weekend of the year behind only "Deadpool & Wolver

Ridley Scott's "Gladiator II," a sequel to his 2000 best picture-winning original, launched with $55.5 million in ticket sales. With a price tag of around $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 Den

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

For Universal who distributed "Oppenheimer" last year the weekend was more a triumph of "Wicked" than of "Glicked."

"We saw an opportunity to dominate a weekend and get a very large running start into the Thanksgiving holiday," said Jim Orr distribution chief for Universal.

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 "Wic

"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.

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 blitz

The campaign featured everything from a much-debated Airbnb cross-promotion with the actual Colosseum in Rome to simultaneously running a one-minute trailer on more than 4,000 TV networks, radio stations and digital platforms.

The "Wicked" attack went even further with pink and green themed "Wickedly Delicious" Starbucks drinks, Stanley mugs and Mattel dolls (some of which led to an 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."

The box office was down about 11% from last year and about 25% from pre-pandemic times. That meant this week's two headline films led a much-needed resurgence for theaters.

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

Producers 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.

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

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

Final domestic figures will be released Monday. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres 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.

Source : Reporters From Sunrise Chronicles

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