A Wicked Weekend For Wicked & Gladiator II - Week 2

[Opening with a side note: Was at the theater last night and it was packed at 10:30pm on a Tuesday night. We were trying to get tickets to Wicked but every screening was filled so we had to “settle” for Moana 2’s opening night. The Rock can sing as well as Jeff Goldblum, right? Right?! Anyhow, it was $7 Tuesday at our local theater, but still… To see a packed theater in the middle of a busy week felt nice. It’s like movies still matter… as long as those movies aren’t Red One.]  

Wicked came, Wicked saw, and Wicked conquered. The long-delayed, rumored, will-they/won’t-they musical adaptation finally hit the big screen and audiences were ready. 

Wicked: Part One opened with a whopping $112.5 million debut. It was by far the biggest opening ever for a Broadway Musical film adaptation, topping Into The Woods $31 million, and it’s the biggest live-action musical opening ever unless you consider the CGI animals in the 2019 The Lion King remake as live-action. I mean, Cynthia Erivo is as green in real life as Beyonce is a lioness, so I could see the argument.  

Actually, I forgot that the live-action Beauty & The Beast did open with $175 million in 2017, so that certainly is more of a one-to-one comparison of live-action musicals, even though that was a remake of a film with a 25-year Disney fanbase. Regardless, it was a huge debut for a film people just weren’t sure how well it would do. Straight from Broadway films have mixed results and even the “hits” are more subdued than Disney’s often blockbuster results. Maybe this will replace The Wizard of Oz as the film folks watch on an annual basis around the holidays. 

In the other corner of the box-office this weekend was Gladiator II. It was clearly in the Oppenheimer role against Barbie this time around, yet just like Oppenheimer, it did very well for itself with a solid $55 million opening. There’s nothing else like Gladiator II coming out over the holidays, so it may keep turning the turnstiles for those folks seeking breaking bones instead of breaking into song. Hopefully, none of this is giving Russell Crowe ideas about turning the first Gladiator into a musical starring himself, but I wouldn’t put it past him.  

Sadly, as two new films entered, an old standby had to take a seat. Nothing sat more than Red One. With a 59% drop and a $52.8 million ten-day total, it seems like a lot of people will not smell what The Rock is cooking in this movie. Again, it may have a second-life on streamers and annual Holiday movie marathons, but this go-round was the fruitcake someone brings to your party that just sits there untouched. Sure, it tasted great in the 1700’s when the main food taste was gruel, but we have better options now.   

The Top Five If Today Was MLK Day:

#1. Wicked: Part One - $112.5 million

#2. Gladiator II - $55 million 

#3. Red One - $52.8 million 

#4. n/a

#5. n/a