Wicked & Gladiator II Box Office Previews Are Strong But Not Barbenheimer Levels

Wicked and Gladiator II are both off to a strong start at the box office; however, it won’t be as big of an opening weekend as Barbenheimer.

Wicked and Gladiator II are both now playing in United States theaters. The former is an adaptation of the popular Broadway musical of the same name starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, while the latter is director Ridley Scott’s long-awaited sequel to 2000’s Gladiator.

How much have Wicked and Gladiator II made at the box office so far?

Per Deadline, Universal Pictures is reporting that Wicked has so far made approximately $19.2 million this week during early previews. 

Approximately $2.5 million of that $19.2 million came from Amazon Prime screenings that were held at 750 theaters in the United States. Early Wednesday screenings in 2,000 theaters brought in another $5.7 million, while Thursday previews grossed approximately $11 million.

The movie is now expected to make more than $120 million by the end of the weekend.

Paramount Pictures, meanwhile, is reporting that Gladiator II has so far earned $6.5 million from 3,200 locations. The film is eying an opening weekend gross of somewhere between $59 million and $66 million.

“As we always say on Thursday, take these estimates with a grain of salt,” Deadline’s article notes. “If the studio reports lower, it doesn’t necessarily mean that any movie is without momentum.”

While many have been comparing the Gladiator II and Wicked opening weekend to Barbenheimer, the 2023 movie phenomenon event was off to a stronger start. Greta Gerwig’s Barbie earned $22.3 million in Thursday previews, while Christopher Nolan’s Oscar-winning Oppenheimer made $10.5. By the time they finished their theatrical run, Barbie made around $1.446 billion while Oppenheimer came in just shy of a billion dollars at $976.8 million.

Wicked and Gladiator II are now both playing in theaters.