“Evil and Gladiators II” poster
Source: Universal Pictures (left), Paramount (right)
This weekend’s box office will be painted pink and green, with a pop of red.
Universal “evil” and Paramount “Gladiator II” opens before the Thanksgiving holiday and is expected to gross more than $200 million this weekend.
“Wicked and Gladiator II are the anti-programming duo that movie theaters and audiences are eagerly anticipating,” said Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory. “This fall’s box office has had its usual ups and downs. But these two movies promise to kick off a potentially historic holiday corridor, and Moana 2 is poised to hit big during Thanksgiving next week.”
Through this week’s previews, “Wicked” has grossed $19.2 million at the domestic box office. On Monday, Amazon Prime members distributed $2.5 million at 750 theaters in the United States, and on Wednesday, another $5.7 million was raised at about 2,000 theaters in the United States and Canada. “Wicked” grossed another $11 million Thursday night in standard previews at about 3,300 theaters.
Tracking projections for “Wicked” began at about $80 million in late October, but have since risen to $120 million to $140 million, with some expecting the film’s three-day opening weekend total to be even higher.
Hollywood has struggled in recent years to market and monetize movie musicals. However, the industry has also seen fan-favorite IP games perform well. Since “Wicked” is based on one of Broadway’s most popular musicals, box office analysts are finding it difficult to predict where it will open.
Upon its release, “Wicked” received a 92% “fresh” rating from more than 160 critics on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. Its Popcorn Meter, a metric the site uses to calculate the percentage of verified movie ticket holders who gave a movie 3.5 stars or higher, ranks as high as 99% with over 2,500 ratings.
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande star as Elphaba and Glinda in Universal Pictures’ Wicked.
universal
Regardless of its weekend box office performance, “Wicked” will become the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation in film history upon its debut. The current record holder is disney “The Jungle Book” took in $31 million in its first three days of release in 2014, according to Comscore.
Meanwhile, “Ghost Warrior II” grossed $6.5 million in Thursday previews and is expected to add $60 million to $80 million to its domestic weekend haul. The film, released 24 years after the original, has more than 200 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and a 73% “fresh” rating. By comparison, “Gladiator” grossed $34.8 million in its opening weekend in May 2000.
The power of “licking”
“The so-called ‘Glicked’ movie mashup is reminiscent of the ‘Barbenheimer’ phenomenon and is creating a cultural buzz,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “While it’s not quite there yet, it’s certainly boosted the visibility of both films. That, coupled with overwhelmingly positive reviews, gives both films great opening weekends and, more importantly, long-term playability during the holiday season.
Box office analysts expect “Wicked,” “Wicked II” and previous films still in theaters to take in between $200 million and $250 million. While impressive, it still doesn’t rank among the 20 highest-grossing weekends of all time, according to Comscore.
The weekend box office of “Barbenheimer” on July 21, 2023 exceeded $311 million, setting the fourth highest weekend box office revenue ever.
“It’s not just about the first few hours or days, though,” Robbins points out. “These movies can and probably will do well in the coming weeks, especially if word-of-mouth reflects the critics’ reaction.”
This weekend’s statistics will help boost the overall box office for the year, which is 11% behind the same period in 2023. Moviegoers who come to theaters will also see ads for other movies scheduled to be released later in December and 2025.
“Our job is to maximize what comes out of this door,” said Chief Executive Greg Marcus. Marcus Corporationowner of Marcus Theaters and Marcus Hotels & Resorts. “Take care of our customers. Provide a great experience for the customers who show up. Make sure the line moves as fast as possible so that we can provide them with real and token service and show them what a great time to visit Movies and enjoy something with other people.
Marcus Theaters joins dozens of other movie theater chains, large and small, in offering guests drink and food specials, themed popcorn buckets and drink containers, and other movie merchandise at their locations.
Cinemark There’s a “Gladiator II” popcorn bucket shaped like a Roman colosseum, and a gladiator helmet that can be mounted on a drink cup to hold the popcorn. Regal has a cup in the shape of a witch’s hat. AMC The menu includes pink and green candy popcorn, as well as a range of themed drinks such as green apple ICEE, Sprite variations called Ozdust Punch and Emerald Elixir, and alcoholic drinks called “Popular Pink” and “Gravity Green.”
Revealed: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, CNBC, Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes. NBCUniversal is the distributor of “Wicked.”
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