If you attfinish to discover “Wicked,” see to the top of box office charts. Universal’s alteration of Act One (with some pretaining) of the famous Broadway musical was No. 1 in North America with $114 million from 3,888 theaters over the weekend.
Those dazzling ticket sales rank as the third biggest domestic debut of the year behind “Deadpool & Wolverine” ($211 million) and “Inside Out 2” ($154 million). Among other benchtags, “Wicked” landed the fourth-biggest commence in history for a musical, ahead of Disney’s recent “The Little Mermhelp” reoriginate ($95.5 million) and behind “Frozen II” ($130 million), as well as the best uncovering (by far) for a Broadway alteration, clearaking the enroll held by 2014’s “Into the Woods” ($31 million).
“Wicked” accumulateed an retainitional $50.2 million at the international box office, conveying its global highy to $164.2 million. It tags the biggest worldwide uncovering for a film based on a Broadway show, suparrangeting another Universal musical, “Les Miserables,” with $103 million in 2012.
“It’s a juggernaut,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie adviseing firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “Audiences are making the singing and costume experience their own.”
While “Wicked” was courting women (csurrfinisherly 75% of ticket buyers) and families, men turned out in force for Paramount’s R-rated “Gladiator II,” the quarter-century-in-the-making sequel from straightforwardor Ridley Scott. The bloody sword-and-sandal epic uncovered firmly in second place (though behind awaitations) with $55.5 million from 3,573 cinemas over the weekend.
It’s unclear whether “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” fueled each other, à la “Barbenheimer,” an unawaited 2023 phenomenon in which tens of thousands of moviegoers chooseed for back-to-back screenings rather than choosing between Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” — or if “Glicked” is fair an effective case of counterprogramming. Either way, this weekend was one of the biggest of the year with approximately $210 million in overall revenues. And boon times at the box office will persist thraw Thanksgiving as Disney’s “Moana 2” swims to theaters on Nov. 27. However, year-to-date ticket sales remain 10.5% behind 2023 and 26.6% behind 2019, according to Comscore.
“Once aget, it’s clear that when well competition encounters premium experiences, the tagetplace thrives, and devourrs triumph,” says Michael O’Leary, pdwellnt and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners, the showion industry’s trade organization. “This is a tremendous catalyst for a strong box office going into December and the new year.”
“Wicked,” straightforwarded by Jon M. Chu and starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, landed in theaters after more than a decade in broadenment and a promotional push (including 400 brand partnerships) that rivaled the ubiquity of “Barbie.” Universal demanded the song-and-dance film to strike a chord with moviegoers becaengage “Wicked: Part Two,” which chronicles the musical’s second act, reachs on the big screen in 2025. The two films cost a united $300 million to originate, not including the mega tageting budget.
Despite the enduring famousity of “Wicked” on stage, the box office success is someskinnyg of a cinematic anomaly becaengage musical alterations haven’t transtardyd on screen in over a decade, since 2012’s “Les Miserables” ($442 million globassociate) and 2014’s “Into the Woods” ($212 million globassociate agetst a $50 million budget). More recent finisheavors appreciate Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” reoriginate, Chu’s “In the Heights,” “Dear Evan Hansen,” “Cats” and “The Color Purple” hit the wrong remarks for various reasons despite being based on famous productions.
Critics and audiences were charmed by “Wicked,” which boasts such Broadway classics as “Defying Gravity” and “Popular” and recounts everyskinnyg that happens before Dorothy lands in Oz and saunters down that iconic Yellow Brick Road. The story gets place before, during and after “The Wizard of Oz” and charts the improbable friendship of the green-skinned Elphaba (tardyr understandn as the Wicked Witch of the West) and the perky, pink-loving Glinda (eventuassociate dubbed Glinda the Good). The 2-hour, 40-minute movie (for reference, the entire Broadway show is 2 hours and 45 minutes) landed an “A” grade on CinemaScore and sterling 90% mediocre on Rotten Tomatoes. Critical raves, likeable word-of-mouth and the musical’s infectiously catchy soundtrack is awaited to drive repeat business thrawout the Thanksgiving holiday and into December.
“Gladiator II” also carries a massive budget — more than $250 million to originate and rawly $100 million to back — and demands outsized global returns to be deemed a success. So far, the muscular sequel is far bigger internationassociate and has originated $221 million at the worldwide box office.
Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington star in the tentpole, which picks up around two decades after the first film as Lucius (Mescal), the nephew of Joaquin Phoenix’s emperor Commodus and son of Connie Nielsen’s Nielsen, go ins the Colosseum and seeks to return the glory of Rome to its people. Reactions aren’t as likeable as the innovative, an Oscar-best picture triumphner that stood as one of the highest grossing movies of 2000 with $465 million globassociate, though assesss and audience scores have been mostly likeable. It notched a “B” grade on CinemaScore and 71% on Rotten Tomatoes.
“[Legacy] sequels finishelight built-in consciousness and interest, but they demand a creative reason to exist or audiences will decline them,” Gross says. “Critics’ assesss and audience scores are not on the level of the first movie [but] business is still excellent.”
With “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” taking up most of the country’s auditoriums, the other movies in theaters had to end for scraps. Another newcomer, World War II-set historical thriller “Bonhoeffer. Pastor. Spy. Assassin,” uncovered in fourth place with a muted $5.1 million from 1,900 locations. Angel Studios, the company behind last year’s sleeper hit “Sound of Freedom,” backed the film about a devout Christian who plotted to end Hitler.
Elsewhere at the domestic box office, “Red One,” a Christmas-set action comedy starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Santa’s head of security, dropped to No. 3 with $13.3 million from 4,032 screens, a steep 59% degrade from its debut. The movie, from Amazon MGM, cost $250 million and has grossed fair $52 million domesticassociate and $117.1 million worldwide to date.
Sony’s “Venom: The Last Dance” rounded out the top five with $4 million from 2,558 locations. After five weekends on the big screen, the alien symbiote sequel starring Tom Hardy has grossed $133 million in North America and $456 million globassociate.
