Universal Pictures' “Wicked” needed no lessons on how to be popular at the domestic box office this weekend, opening at No. 1 with $114 million, according to studio estimates.
It is the highest opening ever for a film based on a Broadway musical, far ahead of 2014's “Into the Woods” ($31 million). “Wicked” broke the same record worldwide, grossing a total of $164.2 million and surpassing 2012’s “Les Misérables” ($103 million).
In second place this weekend was Paramount Pictures' “Gladiator II,” which opened with $55.5 million in the United States and Canada, the biggest domestic opening for an R-rated film released in November, not adjusted for inflation.
Jon M. Chu's adaptation of the first act of Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz's hit Broadway musical came in slightly below analysts' recent expectations in the range of $120 million to $140 million, coming in close to the more modest projection. leading up to the studio's $110 million premiere. .
“Wicked” cost approximately $150 million, not counting marketing.
Meanwhile, the legacy sequel to Ridley Scott's early-aughts best picture winner underperformed analyst and studio projections of $60 million to $75 million. The film had a pre-marketing budget of $250 million.
Still, the strong performances in both films are an early and much-needed Christmas gift to the film industry, which has suffered a disappointing fall thanks to critical and commercial flops like Warner Bros.' “Joker: Folie à Deux” and ” Red One” from Amazon MGM Studios.
“It couldn't have come at a better time,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
“What is happening now is the perfect recipe for the success of movie theaters by 2025,” he added. “That's how you finish the race, right?”
Rounding out the top five at the domestic box office this weekend were “Red One,” which grossed $13.28 million in its second weekend for a North American total of $52.91 million; “Bonhoeffer: Shepherd” by Angel Studios. Spy. Assassin,” which debuted with $5.12 million; and “Venom: The Last Dance” from Sony Pictures, which devoured $4 million in its fifth installment for a total of $133.83 million, according to estimates by the measurement firm Comscore.
“On behalf of the people who operate movie theaters around the world, congratulations to our studio partners and the creative community on one of the most successful November weekends at the box office,” said Michael O'Leary, president of the National Association. of Theater Owners, in a statement.
“This is a tremendous catalyst for strong box office going into December and the new year,” he said.
Arriving 21 years after its source material took Broadway by storm, “Wicked” stars Ariana Grande as Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, before Dorothy and her friends moved on. the yellow brick road. to the Emerald City. The highly anticipated reboot of “The Wizard of Oz” also features Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Marissa Bode and Michelle Yeoh among its main cast.
The film's ubiquitous release was fueled by an aggressive marketing campaign in which Universal partnered with 400 brands worldwide, including Starbucks, Ulta Beauty, Bloomingdales and Target, to paint Glinda's shelves pink and Elphaba green. .
“Wicked” also benefited from mostly positive reviews that touted the performances of its lead sorceresses. The film received a 90% rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes and an A grade from audiences surveyed by CinemaScore. The audience was predominantly female. Women accounted for 72% of the opening weekend domestic box office.
Jim Orr, head of domestic distribution at Universal Pictures, was especially pleased that “Wicked” appears to be performing fairly evenly across the country, not just outperforming in coastal regions that tend to see more traffic.
“Seeing certain markets like Nashville and Salt Lake City overindexed the way they are is very gratifying,” Orr said.
“It's very encouraging for a long and healthy run at the domestic box office.”
It's a big win for Universal and its leader Donna Langley, who was recently promoted to president of NBCUniversal Entertainment & Studios. The Comcast-owned studio has often bet big on the musical movie genre, sometimes with great success (“Mamma Mia!” and “Les Misérables”) and other times with disastrous results (“Cats,” “Dear Evan Hansen”). ).
“Box office history is littered with musicals that flopped,” Dergarabedian said.
In an effort to evade the curse of movie musicals, some studios have recently obscured the show's tunes by promoting titles like Paramount's “Mean Girls” or Warner Bros.' “Wonka.” But this strategy has been known to backfire, and “Wicked” took the opposite approach.
“The marketing team [behind ‘Wicked’] “We did a fantastic job of embracing wholeheartedly, as they should, the musical aspects of this,” Dergarabedian added.
“This is a great result for the genre and sets the bar very high.”
“Wicked Part Two,” which covers the second act of the stage production, is scheduled to be released next year.
Also new to national theaters this weekend was “Gladiator II,” starring Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington as dueling warriors and emperors of ancient Rome. Completing the main cast of the bloody historical drama are Joseph Quinn and Connie Nielsen.
The long-awaited sequel to “Gladiator” earned mixed to positive reviews, receiving a 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a B grade from audiences surveyed by CinemaScore.
“The fact that we were 52% below [the age of] 35 shows that we tapped a new audience for the film, and not just serving the traditional audience,” said Chris Aronson, head of domestic distribution for Paramount Pictures.
“That's very encouraging… from the movie itself, from our marketing efforts and from its gameplay.”
The studio's next major film is Disney's “Moana 2,” which opens widely the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
