November 24th 2024.
It was a weekend of big success at the box office as two highly-anticipated films, "Wicked" and "Gladiator II," dominated ticket sales with a combined total of $270 million worldwide. After a period of struggle for the box office, these two films brought new life and resulted in one of the busiest moviegoing weekends of the year.
The lavish, big-budget musical "Wicked," directed by Jon M. Chu and starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, made its debut with an impressive $114 million domestically and $164.2 million globally for Universal Pictures. This marked the third-biggest opening weekend of the year, only behind "Deadpool & Wolverine" and "Inside Out 2." It also set a record for the biggest opening weekend for a Broadway musical adaptation.
Meanwhile, Ridley Scott's highly-anticipated sequel to his 2000 best picture-winning original, "Gladiator II," also had a strong opening weekend, raking in $55.5 million in ticket sales. With a production cost of around $250 million, this was a big gamble for Paramount Pictures. However, the film has performed well overseas, adding an additional $50.5 million to its total.
The collision of these two highly-anticipated films created some echoes of last year's "Barbenheimer" effect, when "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" were released simultaneously. This time, the nickname "Glicked" wasn't as catchy and the cultural impact was not as significant. Although there were no double features this time, the domestic grosses for both films were higher than "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" from last year.
For Universal, who distributed "Oppenheimer" last year, the weekend was more of a triumph for "Wicked" than it was for "Glicked." Jim Orr, distribution chief for Universal, stated, "We saw an opportunity to dominate a weekend and get a very large running start into the Thanksgiving holiday. We're very confident that it will play ridiculously well through the Christmas corridor and into the new year."
The counter-programming strategy proved to be effective for both "Wicked" and "Gladiator II," as they appealed to different audiences with "Wicked" targeting mainly female viewers and "Gladiator II" appealing to mostly male viewers. Similar to last year's "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer," the female-leaning release, "Wicked," easily won the weekend with 72% of ticket buyers being female. On the other hand, 61% of those who saw "Gladiator II" were male.
Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore, commented, "Standing on their own, each of these movies may have done pretty much what they did, but it's hard to know. Raising awareness can indeed lead to an increase in box office. Let's put it this way: They didn't hurt each other at all."
Massive marketing campaigns played a significant role in the success of these two films. While "Barbenheimer" benefitted from meme-spread word-of-mouth, "Wicked" and "Gladiator II" heavily relied on all-out marketing blitzes. The "Gladiator II" campaign included a much-debated Airbnb cross-promotion with the actual Colosseum in Rome and a one-minute trailer simultaneously running on over 4,000 TV networks, radio stations, and digital platforms.
The "Wicked" marketing campaign went even further, featuring pink and green themed "Wickedly Delicious" Starbucks drinks, Stanley mugs, and Mattel dolls. The stars of the film, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, also made appearances at the Met Gala and the Olympics.
Jim Orr stated, "We had roughly 400 global brand partners on 'Wicked,' so the campaign was inescapable. 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."
Prior to this weekend, the box office had been down about 11% from last year and 25% from pre-pandemic times. However, with the strong performance of "Wicked" and "Gladiator II," the box office is expected to see a much-needed resurgence. With "Moana 2" set to release on Wednesday, Hollywood may be looking at historic sales over the Thanksgiving holiday.
David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter for Franchise Entertainment, stated, "This weekend's two strong openers are invigorating a box office that fell apart after a good summer."
While "Wicked" may face some competition from "Moana 2," it is expected to have a successful and long run in theaters. On the other hand, "Gladiator II" may not have the same longevity but is still receiving positive reviews, especially for Denzel Washington's charismatic performance. Although audience scores were weaker for "Gladiator II," it is expected to make up for that with strong international sales, having already accrued $165.5 million in overseas markets.
In a distant third place for the weekend was "Red One," the Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans holiday movie turned action film. In its second week of release, the Amazon MGM Studios release grossed $13.3 million, bringing its two-week global haul to $117 million. With a production cost of $250 million, "Red One" is considered the biggest flop of the season. However, it may still be able to recoup some value for Amazon once it begins streaming.
Overall, it was a successful and exciting weekend at the box office with "Wicked" and "Gladiator II" boosting the sluggish box office performance. Final domestic figures will be released on Monday. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore, are as follows:
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.
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