Wicked and Gladiator 2 Enjoy Huge Box Office Launches, but 'Glicked' Can’t Match the Power of 'Barbenheimer'

Wicked and Gladiator 2 — aka Glicked, according to entertainment industry hopefuls desperate for a repeat of last year’s Barbenheimer box office behemoth — have each enjoyed huge launches.

According to Variety, Wicked released to an enormous $164.2 million at the global box office, with $114 million of that coming from North America alone. That’s the third-biggest domestic box office launch of 2024, behind only Pixar’s Inside Out 2 and Marvel's Deadpool & Wolverine.

Wicked, starring Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, broke a number of box office records, including the best launch ever for a Broadway adaptation, beating 2012’s Les Miserables ($103 million).

Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. Photo by Ian West/PA Images via Getty Images.

Variety reported that Universal spent $150 million to produce Wicked. Add significant marketing spend and Wicked was under pressure to perform, but it’s already looking like a profitable endeavor with the crucial Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays to come. Wicked: Part Two, which also cost $150 million to produce, is set for November 2025 (yes, Wicked only adapts the Broadway musical’s first act).

IGN’s Wicked review returned a 9/10. We said: “A dazzling adaptation of one of Broadway’s most beloved musicals brings Stephen Schwartz’s Wicked Witch of the West origin story to brilliant life on screen with clear care for its source material.”

Meanwhile, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2 launched to $55.5 million domestically having released internationally last weekend. Its global box office so far is an impressive $221 million, but with a $250 million production budget and estimated $100 million marketing budget, Gladiator 2 still has some way to go before Paramount will be pleased with its profit and loss statement.

(L-R) Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen, Sir Ridley Scott, Paul Mescal, Fred Hechinger, and Pedro Pascal. Photo by Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/WireImage.

IGN’s Gladiator 2 review returned an 8/10. We said: “Gladiator 2 finds strength and honor in a familiar story, with enough fresh perspective to feel relevant and an unmissable Denzel Washington supporting turn which practically screams ‘are you not entertained!?' "

So, how did ‘Glicked’ compare to last year’s Barbie and Oppenheimer combo launch? Despite similar tonal whiplash suffered by moviegoers who braved a double-bill, Glicked couldn’t quite match the box office power of Barbenheimer. The combined force of Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan pulled in a whopping $311 million domestically during opening weekend, versus Glicked’s $169.5 million. Wicked and Gladiator 2 made $270.2 million in global ticket sales over the weekend, versus Barbie and Oppenheimer's eye-watering $536.8 million global box office launch.

Photo by Ian West/PA Images via Getty Images.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.