Universal’s “Wicked” has rejuvenated the box office after weeks of declining grosses, earning the third highest opening weekend of 2024 with $114 million from 3,888 theaters.
That sits only behind “Deadpool & Wolverine” ($211.4 million) and “Inside Out 2” ($154.2 million) on this year’s opening weekend list, and shatters the $31 million record set in 2014 by “Into the Woods” for the highest opening by a Broadway adaptation.
As expected, the opening weekend audience is being driven by millennial women who grew up enjoying the 2003 Broadway musical with support from younger women who are fans of Ariana Grande. Universal reports a female audience share of 72%, a higher share than the opening weekend of “Barbie” at 68% and the same percentage for the opening weekend of the 2017 “Beauty and the Beast” remake.
The 25-34 demographic had the largest share at 29%, with the 18-24 demo at 20% and the 35-44 demographic at 16%.
The next step for “Wicked” will be to turn its stellar word-of-mouth, which includes an A on CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 90% critics and 97% audience, into strong holdover grosses for this Thanksgiving weekend and beyond even against the titanic competition of Disney’s “Moana 2,” which is expected to shatter the $125 million Thanksgiving weekend record set five years ago by “Frozen II.”
“Wicked” will have to rely on domestic audiences for those legs, as the film grossed just $50 million from 61 overseas markets. While that is also a box office record for Broadway adaptations, it is below the $87 million overseas opening of Paramount’s “Gladiator II” next weekend, and both films are expected to be dwarfed internationally by “Moana 2.”
Speaking of “Gladiator II,” the Ridley Scott legacyquel opened to $55.5 million, below projections of a $65 million start but still enough to be the highest R-rated opening in November. Combined with $50.5 million internationally, the film grossed $106 million worldwide this weekend and has a running global total of $221 million.
“Gladiator II” was expected to be driven by male audiences, and that was indeed the case as men accounted for 61% of the audience. Somewhat more surprising and encouraging for Paramount is that audience share did not skew towards older men who saw the first “Gladiator” as heavily as expected, with 49% of the audience being from the 18-34 demo and 48% being over the age of 35.
Reception for “Gladiator II” has been generally positive, though not as strong as “Wicked” with a B on CinemaScore and a 4/5 average on PostTrak. As the sole R-rated tentpole in theaters this winter, “Gladiator II” will have a lane all to itself and is looking to leg out worldwide with primarily male moviegoers less interested in musicals and family films.
Amazon MGM’s “Red One” is third on the charts, dropping 59% from its already low $32 million opening for $13.2 million. The holiday action film has grossed just $52.9 million domestic and $117.1 million worldwide after two weekends, well short of its $250 million production budget.
In fourth is Angel Studios’ “Bonhoeffer,” a true story drama about a German theologian who resisted the Nazis that is opening to $5.1 million from 1,900 theaters. The film received an A from audiences on CinemaScore and mixed reviews with a 59% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Sony’s “Venom: The Last Dance” completes the top 5 with $4 million for a $133 million domestic total while it approaches $450 million worldwide. It just tops Lionsgate’s “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” which earned $3.5 million in its third weekend for a $25.5 million total.
