The adaptation of the Broadway musical and the Ridley Scott epic raked in $114 million and $55.5 million, respectively, for their opening weekend in the United States.
American cinemas expected a resounding success, like those of Barbie et Oppenheimer released during the summer of 2023. After the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon, make way for the “Glicked” wave ». Gladiator II et Wicked have soared at the American box office since their release across the Atlantic on Friday November 22, making last weekend one of the most profitable of the year with around $210 million in global revenue, according to Box-Office Mojo.
Wicked tops the box office
Sunday evening, the musical Wicked topped the North American box office with $114 million in 3,888 theaters. Scheduled in France on December 4, the film adaptation of the first act of the popular Broadway show achieved the third best start of the year in the United States, behind Deadpool & Wolverine ($211 million) and Vice-Versa 2 ($154 million).
But also the fourth best start in history for a musical, ahead of the remake of The Little Mermaid ($95.5 million) and just behind Frozen 2 ($130 million). Finally, with $164.2 million in worldwide revenue in just a few days, Wicked also achieves the best start for a Broadway adaptation, far ahead Into the Woods and its 31 million dollars in 2014.
Gladiator II better than the first part
Ridley Scott's peplum, Gladiator II enters the leading duo by posting, as announced by specialists' forecasts, 55.5 million dollars in revenue in 3,573 cinemas. The second part of the saga thus gets off to a better start than its predecessor Gladiator which grossed $34.8 million at the US box office during its opening weekend in 2000. Gladiator II hopes to surpass the $465 million in worldwide revenues of the first film and justify its $250 million production budget, plus $100 million in promotion. Worldwide, Ridley Scott's epic has already collected $221 million since its release.
Produced respectively by the behemoths Universal and Paramount, the two films benefited from enormous marketing campaigns. Before their release, the Internet was already full of “memes” – images, videos or texts, mainly characterized by their humorous or sarcastic nature – while multiplexes and shopping centers across the country were adorned with the green and pink tones associated with witches of Wickedor mini-Colosseums in cardboard. A boon for cinemas which are struggling to regain their pre-pandemic attendance.
France
