With a combined $270 million in worldwide ticket sales, and breathed fresh life into a box office that has , leading to one of the busiest moviegoing weekends of the year.
鈥淲icked,鈥� starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, debuted with $114 million domestically and $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 and It鈥檚 also a record for a Broadway musical adaptation.
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, 鈥淕ladiator II鈥� was a big bet by Paramount Pictures to return to the Colosseum with a largely new cast, led by Denzel Washington and Paul Mescal. While it opened with a touch less than the $60 million predicted in domestic ticket sales, 鈥淕ladiator II鈥� has performed well overseas. It added $50.5 million internationally.
The collision of the two movies led to some echoes of the effect of last year, when 鈥淏arbie鈥� and 鈥淥ppenheimer鈥� launched simultaneously. The nickname this time, wasn鈥檛 quite as catchy and the cultural imprint also was notably less. Few people this time. The domestic grosses in 2023 鈥� $162 million for 鈥淏arbie鈥� and $82 million for 鈥淥ppenheimer鈥� 鈥� also were higher.
鈥淕licked鈥� falls short of 鈥淏补谤产别苍丑别颈尘别谤鈥�
For Universal, which distributed 鈥淥ppenheimer鈥� last year, the weekend was more a triumph of 鈥淲颈肠办别诲鈥� than it was of 鈥淕licked.鈥�
鈥淲e saw an opportunity to dominate a weekend and get a very large running start into the Thanksgiving holiday,鈥� said Jim Orr, distribution chief for Universal. 鈥淲e鈥檙e very confident that it will play ridiculously well through the Christmas corridor and into the new year.鈥�
But the counter-programming effect was still potent for 鈥淲颈肠办别诲鈥� and 鈥淕ladiator II,鈥� which likewise split broadly along gender lines. And it was again the female-leaning release 鈥� 鈥淲icked,鈥� like 鈥淏arbie鈥� before it 鈥� that easily won the weekend. About 72% of ticket buyers for 鈥淲颈肠办别诲鈥� were female, while 61% of those seeing 鈥淕ladiator II鈥� were male.
鈥淪tanding on their own, each of these movies may have done pretty much what they did, but it鈥檚 hard to know,鈥� said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. 鈥淩aising awareness can indeed lead to an increase in box office. Let鈥檚 put it this way: They didn鈥檛 hurt each other at all.鈥�
Massive marketing campaigns paved the way for opening weekend
While 鈥淏补谤产别苍丑别颈尘别谤鈥� benefitted enormously from meme-spread word-of-mouth, both 鈥淲颈肠办别诲鈥� and 鈥淕ladiator II鈥� leaned on all-out marketing blitzes.
The 鈥淕ladiator II鈥� campaign featured everything from a with the actual Colosseum in Rome to simultaneously running a one-minute trailer on more than 4,000 TV networks, radio station and digital platforms.
The 鈥淲颈肠办别诲鈥� onslaught went even further, with pink and green themed 鈥淲ickedly Delicious鈥� Starbucks drinks, Stanley mugs and Mattel dolls (some of which led to ). Its stars made appearances at the Met Gala and the Olympics.
鈥淲e had roughly 400 global brand partners on 鈥榃icked,鈥� so the campaign was inescapable, said Orr. 鈥淎nd 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.鈥�
Going into the weekend, box office was down about 11% from last year and some 25% from pre-pandemic times. That meant this week鈥檚 two headline films led a much-needed resurgence for theaters. With releasing Wednesday, Hollywood might be looking at historic sales over the Thanksgiving holiday.
The two films boosted sluggish box office performance
鈥淭his weekend鈥檚 two strong openers are invigorating a box office that fell apart after a good summer,鈥� said David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter for Franchise Entertainment.
Though 鈥淲颈肠办别诲鈥� will face some direct competition from 鈥淢oana 2,鈥� it would seem better set up for a long and lucrative run in theaters than 鈥淕ladiator II.鈥� Though some have dinged 鈥淲颈肠办别诲鈥� for running long, at 2 hours and 40 minutes, the film has had mostly stellar reviews. Audiences gave it an 鈥淎鈥� on CinemaScore. The reception for 鈥淲颈肠办别诲鈥� has been strong enough that Oscar prognosticators expect it to be a contender for best picture at the Academy Awards, among other categories.
Producers, perhaps sensing a hit, also took the step of splitting 鈥淲颈肠办别诲鈥� in two. Part two, already filmed, is due out next November. Each 鈥淲颈肠办别诲鈥� installation cost around $150 million to make.
鈥淕ladiator II鈥� has also enjoyed good reviews, particularly for Washington鈥檚 charismatic performance. Audience scores, though, were weaker, with ticket buyers giving it a 鈥淏鈥� on CinemaScore. The film will make up for some of that, however, with robust international sales. It launched in many overseas markets a week ago, and has already accrued $165.5 million internationally.
Coming in a distant third place for the weekend was 鈥淩ed One,鈥� the Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans holiday movie turned action film. 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, 鈥淩ed One鈥� is the season鈥檚 biggest flop, though it could recoup some value for Amazon if it鈥檚 more popular once it begins streaming.
Final domestic figures will be released Monday. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1. 鈥淲icked,鈥� $114 million.
2. 鈥淕ladiator II,鈥� $55.5 million.
3. 鈥淩ed One,鈥� $13.3 million.
4. 鈥淏onhoeffer: Pastor Spy Assassin,鈥� $5.1 million.
5. 鈥淰enom: The Last Dance,鈥� $4 million.
6. 鈥淭he Best Christmas Pageant Ever,鈥� $3.5 million.
7. 鈥淗eretic,鈥� $2.2 million.
8. 鈥淭he Wild Robot,鈥� $2 million.
9. 鈥淪mile 2,鈥� $1.1 million.
10. 鈥淎 Real Pain,鈥� $1.1 million.
