How Wicked Destroyed Gladiator 2 At The Box Office, With The Musical Making Over $50M More Than The Epic

The simultaneous release of both Wicked and Gladiator II at the box office in November 2024 has proven to be the cinematic event of the year. “Glicked” is rivaling last year’s “Barbenheimer” phenomenon with two entirely different projects finding immense success in different ways. The two films have been endlessly compared thanks to their same-day release, although the projects themselves couldn’t be more dissimilar. However, the box office figures of Wicked and Gladiator II have already proven a “winner” of sorts.

Both Wicked and Gladiator II were hugely anticipated releases, the former because of how widely beloved the original Broadway production is, the latter because of how critically acclaimed its Academy Award-winning predecessor was. They both had precedents to live up to, and while one has found more commercial success than the other, it’s hard to deny that either project hasn’t lived up to the huge expectations placed upon it. It was a box office battle to rival Barbenheimer, and the result is quite surprising.

Wicked vs. Gladiator 2: Opening Weekend Box Office Numbers Compared

Wicked Has Made More Money Domestically On Its Opening Weekend

The first metric to compare between Wicked and Gladiator II is their opening weekend box office figures, which clearly show that Wicked was the more lucrative property in the days following its release. In the U.S., Wicked‘s opening weekend brought $114 million to theaters, while Gladiator II grossed $55.5 domestically (via Box Office Mojo). While these are both strong figures that reflect the projects’ respective popularity, the former’s numbers are on track to be some of the year’s highest earnings.

Naturally, this is just in the U.S. Gladiator II opened a week earlier than Wicked in other parts of the world, and their worldwide box office intakes generally show a different trend. Wicked drew in an extra $50 million internationally, while Gladiator II made $165 million in twice the amount of time. This brings their worldwide figures to $164 million for Wicked and $221 million for Gladiator II. However, this isn’t as clear of a comparison given the scattered releases.

Wicked’s Reviews & Audience Reception Were Way Better Than Gladiator 2

Rotten Tomatoes Has Crowned Wicked The Weekend’s Victor

Beyond commercial success, both films are to be measured by their critical success, both from professional critics and general audiences. On Rotten Tomatoes, Wicked holds a 97% audience score and a 90% critics score, which is the highest in a long time for a mainstream movie musical. Wicked’s Rotten Tomatoes score is hugely impressive, proving that audiences have immediately fallen in love with the adaptation. The 97% audience score is even stronger than the classic The Wizard of Oz’s rating, even if the critics don’t quite agree.

To compare, Gladiator II currently has an audience score of 84%, with critics giving the film an even lower 72%. This clearly doesn’t match Wicked‘s numbers, suggesting that while the film has performed well commercially, people haven’t been enjoying the project as much as John M. Chu’s musical. But Rotten Tomatoes isn’t everything: the films have also been rated on CinemaScore, with Wicked receiving a resounding A and Gladiator II being relegated to a B.

Wicked Became More Of An “Event” Than Gladiator 2

The Marketing Team For Wicked Has Caused A Social Media Storm

Wicked‘s superior performance is partially a result of its more eventful release and marketing strategy. There have been countless theater events that encourage the audience to dress up, sing along to the music, and share their thoughts on social media with their friends. It’s been a huge cinematic event, which isn’t something that can quite be said about Gladiator II. Much of this comes down to Wicked‘s more universal appeal, which includes children and younger families, whereas Gladiator II is a more serious drama aimed at older audiences.

Wicked is also filled with Easter eggs to The Wizard of Oz, which appeals to an audience’s sense of nostalgia and makes it easier to enjoy. The original film is an undeniable classic, so it’s no surprise that audiences have been discussing its prequel so widely and giving it so many social media impressions. Deadline has reported that Wicked‘s social media stats reached over 960 million even before the film’s release, which is almost three times what Gladiator II managed.

Wicked Targeted A Bigger Audience Than Gladiator 2

The Wicked Musical Is A More Accessible Movie

A huge reason for Wicked’s box office success is that it’s targeted towards a more universal audience. This factor is very reminiscent of Barbie‘s success in the Barbenheimer battle of 2023: there aren’t many movies that clearly market themselves towards a female audience, so when a film comes along that’s unapologetically pink and stereotypically feminine, it tends to be a greater success.

Gladiator II is a much less accessible film, and it only appeals to those who’ve already seen (and enjoyed) the original film. It’s a clear sequel that requires some knowledge of the first movie to be enjoyed, whereas Wicked is an extremely accessible project that doesn’t require any prior knowledge, and whose music can appeal to anybody. Additionally, Gladiator II is cursed by its R rating, which prevented many younger audiences from watching it.

Wicked Will Likely Have A Longer Box Office Run Than Gladiator 2

Movie Musicals’ Success Tends To Last Longer

Judging by the typical trends of how musicals perform at the box office, Wicked‘s opening weekend will only constitute a small portion of its commercial intake. Movie musicals tend to have much longer legs than regular releases, as audiences may return to hear Wicked‘s iconic songs again or experience the immense musical numbers that don’t have the same impact on a small screen. There’s plenty of precedent for this trend in the past, with movies like The Greatest Showman displaying huge longevity that continued for months after their release.

However, that’s not to say that Wicked doesn’t have competition coming. While the impending holiday season could prove beneficial to Wicked‘s box office run, it’s also one of the busiest times of the year for new releases, which could easily detract from the audiences returning to experience Wicked again. The film will have to rely strongly on its social media marketing strategy and existing word-of-mouth to continue thriving at the box office.

Wicked & Gladiator 2 Are Both On Track To Be Box Office Successes

Despite Their Competition, Both “Glicked” Films Are Having An Excellent Performance

Ultimately, barring the competition, both Wicked and Gladiator II are set to be huge successes at the box office. They’re both on track to exceed their budget by several orders of magnitude and performing better than either project could have anticipated. While it’s easy to let Wicked overshadow Gladiator II, the latter’s numbers would have been an enormous success on any other weekend.

Gladiator II‘s box office smashed records internationally, and much of its success could actually be credited to the ongoing rivalry with Wicked. It’s the same phenomenon that was seen with Barbenheimer in 2024: having two popular films released on the same weekend can actually help create an event of sorts that increases both of their commercial intakes. The competition drives audiences to the theaters and gets people interested in films that they otherwise wouldn’t care for.

Source: Box Office Mojo, Rotten Tomatoes, Deadline

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  Wicked adapts the Broadway musical into a two-part film, following the unlikely friendship between Elphaba, born with green skin, and Glinda, a popular aristocrat, in the Land of Oz. As they navigate their contrasting paths, they evolve into Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

  Director

  Jon M. Chu

  Release Date

  November 22, 2024

  Writers

  Gregory Maguire , Winnie Holzman , Dana Fox , L. Frank Baum

  Cast

  Cynthia Erivo , Ariana Grande , Michelle Yeoh , Jeff Goldblum , Jonathan Bailey , Ethan Slater , Marissa Bode , Bowen Yang , Bronwyn James , Keala Settle , Peter Dinklage , Aaron Teoh , Grecia De la Paz , Colin Michael Carmichael , Adam James , Andy Nyman , Courtney Mae-Briggs , Sharon D. Clarke , Jenna Boyd

  Runtime

  160 Minutes

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  Gladiator 2 is the follow-up to Ridley Scott’s award-winning film Gladiator from 2000. Scott returns to direct the sequel, with Paul Mescal staring as Lucius, alongside Denzel Washington and Joseph Quinn as the villain Emperor Geta. Gladiator 2 had been stuck in development hell for years before a script written by David Scarpa finally moved forward.

  Release Date

  November 22, 2024

  Writers

  David Scarpa , Peter Craig , David Franzoni

  Cast

  Paul Mescal , Pedro Pascal , Denzel Washington , Connie Nielsen , Joseph Quinn , Fred Hechinger , Derek Jacobi , May Calamawy , Peter Mensah , Matt Lucas , Alexander Karim , Tim McInnerny , Lee Charles , Chidi Ajufo , Alfie Tempest , Riana Duce , Chi Lewis Parry , Paul Candelent , Hadrian Howard , Alexander Simkin , Mikhail Basmadjian , Matthew Charlery-Smith , Maxime Durand , Lior Raz

  Runtime

  148 minutes

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