Box Office Report for the Week of November 24

After weeks of quasi-dormancy, the box office is back in full force with Gladiator II and Wicked! Yes, I’m resisting calling it Glicked, Wickedator, or whatever you’re naming it because there will never be another Barbenheimer, and we should stop attempting to recreate this once-in-a-generation cinematic event (remember Saw Patrol?)

There was a reason why Barbenheimer took off in ways that no studio could’ve imagined (at the time their respective marketing campaigns began). They were two diametrically opposed theatrical events by two of the greatest filmmakers working today: Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan. Wicked and Gladiator II, while they received good-to-great reviews (I personally didn’t care for both, and actively did not like Wicked), don’t have the same feel of seeing two incredible, never-before-seen experiences on the big screen.

That was what made Barbenheimer special: we were seeing things on screen that are rarely shown to us, in form, and how it attempts to collectively involve and immerse its audience watching in front of a big screen. Certainly, Jon M. Chu and Ridley Scott are established talents, but one is a sequel to a highly popular film, while the other is a highly-anticipated adaptation of a famous Broadway show. Even if I loved both films, it just doesn’t feel the same. Joey wrote an article on the website about this, and I agree with the fact that “neither is capturing the zeitgeist on their own as Barbie and Oppenheimer did. If they can’t do it on their own, they won’t be able to do it together.” You can read his full piece here.

Regardless of this eternal debate, it’s great to see the two movies perform very well. Wicked delivers a massive $114 million opening, currently the third biggest opening of the year and the biggest ever for a Broadway adaptation. Whether or not this will translate to statues remains to be seen, but it’s great to see audiences drive in full force to the movie theater for a movie many of them have been waiting to see. Globally, the film made $164.2 million, which will likely carry over as we approach a long weekend in the United States.

Gladiator II opened with $55 million in North America, adding to its already impressive global tally of $230 million. The film opened last week in international markets and has already made quite a splash for Ridley Scott, who continues to deliver commercially successful work at the age of 86. Whether or not his films receive the same praise almost doesn’t matter: they are still extremely bankable.

Next week, or more aptly, next Wednesday, this momentum will continue with the release of Moana 2, which is bound to draw families who weren’t planning to see Wicked back to the cinema. As much as the project itself has gone through many permutations (which worries this writer greatly), it’s worthy noting that many are underestimating the Moana fanbase at their own peril. She may not have the generational, instant-classic appeal of Frozen, but the fanbase is far more significant than you think. With The Rock in desperate need of a hit after Red One tanked terribly (and has dropped poorly this weekend, as expected), it may be another animated success for Disney after the studio endured a string of commercial duds in 2023. How far will it go (got the reference)? I don’t have a crystal ball to predict, but it will undoubtedly be one of the biggest commercial surprises of the year.

Here is the full list of the top ten films of the weekend:

1. Wicked (Universal): $114.0M – 3,888 theatres
2. Gladiator II (Paramount): $55.5M – 3,573 theatres
3. Red One (Amazon MGM Studios): $13.3M (-59%) – 4,032 theatres
4. Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin (Angel Studios): $5.1M – 1,900 theatres
5. Venom: The Last Dance (Sony/Marvel): $4.0M (-45%) – 2,558 theatres
6. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Lionsgate): $3.5M (-33%) – 2,279 theatres
7. Heretic (A24): $2.2M (-55%) – 1,622 theatres
8. The Wild Robot (Universal): $2.0M (-53%) – 2,110 theatres
9. Smile 2 (Paramount): $1.11M (-62%) – 952 theatres
10. A Real Pain (Disney): $1.10M (-50%) – 1,185 theatres

Source: Comscore