Wicked Soars Past Gladiator II at the Box Office — Earning Best Opening for a Broadway Film Adaptation

“Barbenheimer” move over — it’s “Glicked” season.

Wicked and Gladiator II both released over the weekend, garnering whopping numbers at the box office in North America.

In first place, Wicked (part one of a two-part movie adaptation) earned $114 million from 3,888 theaters over the weekend, according to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.

Gladiator II, meanwhile, made $55.5 million from 3,573 cinemas, the outlets said.

Per Variety, Wicked is now the best opening for a Broadway film adaptation, a record previously held by Into the Woods (2014). It also marked the third biggest domestic debut for 2024 behind Deadpool & Wolverine ($211 million) and Inside Out 2 ($154 million).

Wicked sees Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo step into the iconic roles of Glinda and Elphaba in the Broadway adaptation that tells the origin story of Oz’s witches.

Gladiator II, for its part, put Oscar-nominated actor Paul Mescal into the spotlight as Lucius, the son of the original film’s Maximus (Russell Crowe).

Both films were highly anticipated, inspiring fans to recreate the magic movie moment of “Barbenheimer” from last summer, which saw the simultaneous release of Barbie and Oppenheimer.

Mescal, 28, recently spoke about wanting to reignite that spark, encouraging viewers to watch both Wicked and Gladiator II over the weekend.

“I think they complement each other really well because they’re so different,” he told Variety at the film’s premiere on Nov. 18. “And if you love cinema, get out there and support it.”

Wicked and Gladiator II are in theaters now.