‘Wicked’ Casts $164M+ Spell In Global Opening; ‘Gladiator II’ Thunders To $221M WW After 2nd Offshore Frame – International Box Office
UPDATED: Universal’s Wicked is singing at the global box office, with an estimated $164.2M debut. That’s only slightly off from where it was projected to land through Sunday, as we noted yesterday (see below). The split on the Jon M. Chu-directed first installment of this Broadway musical adaptation is $114M domestic and $50.2M from the international box office.
Meanwhile, and before we dig further into Elphaba and Glinda’s opening numbers, Paramount’s Gladiator II has rumbled past the two-century mark globally, now with $221M worldwide. This includes two weekends of overseas play and the first domestic frame — the Ridley Scott-directed sequel launched early in offshore markets. The North America launch was $55.5M, while the sophomore overseas frame added $50.5M (-42%) for an offshore running cume of $165.5M.
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The thisclose numbers on Wicked and G2 overseas this weekend are not apples-to-apples comparisons. G2 is playing in several markets where Wicked has still to launch.
Whichever way we slice it, it’s good news all around with robust play for both movies — and more.
Taking a closer look at Wicked globally, the film enjoyed the biggest opening weekend for a Broadway adaption ahead of Les Miserables ($103M); the 6th biggest opening weekend of 2024; the best for a non-sequel this year; and the 5th biggest launch weekend ever for a musical ahead of 2023’s The Little Mermaid ($163.6M), and behind only 2019’s The Lion King ($446M), 2017’s Beauty and the Beast ($358M), Frozen 2 ($358M) and 2019’s Aladdin ($213M).
Internationally, the Cynthia Erivo/Ariana Grande-starrer had the top start for a Broadway adaption in like-for-like markets ahead of Les Miserables, and the 6th biggest opening weekend ever for a musical. In 46 of the 61 debut markets, this is Universal’s best live-action start of 2024 (including previews). It is also Chu’s best start in 34 (excluding previews) and the best-ever for a stage musical adaptation in 42 (including previews).
Word of mouth is very strong across the board, with Universal creating a new cultural moment from a brand that doesn’t come with built-in awareness across the globe.
Leading all play, the UK & Ireland came in higher than projected, at a clear No. 1 with $17.6M, above Wonka (+51%), Mamma Mia 2 (+38%), The Jungle Book (+36%), Les Misérables (+65%) and more than double Frozen, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid.
This reps the top UK start for Universal in 2024 and the studio’s biggest 3-day launch since No Time To Die. It’s also estimated as the biggest 3-day debut of the year and by far the biggest stage musical opening ever.
Friday in the UK/Ireland was the 2nd biggest opening Friday of the year, behind Deadpool & Wolverine; Universal’s 5th biggest opening Friday of all time; the 8th biggest November opening ever; and came in higher than Avatar: The Way of Water to achieve the 8th biggest opening Friday since 2020. Saturday then saw the best numbers of the year (higher than Inside Out 2), and the 5th biggest Saturday in the market since 2020. This was also Universal’s 4th biggest opening Saturday of all time, the 3rd biggest November Saturday result ever and the 3rd biggest opening Saturday for any musical film in the market (only behind Beauty and the Beast and Frozen 2).
Advance ticket sales soared across the market, with the top site the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, which achieved its highest opening Friday since Oppenheimer. Wicked also delivered the highest-grossing opening Friday in Imax for a PG film (above The Jungle Book) and overtook Beauty and the Beast’s opening Friday for the biggest opening for any musical in the format.
At $6.7M including previews, Australia opened at No. 1 on 327 screens with a 59% share of the Top 10 titles. Wednesday night previews more than doubled Gladiator II’s same day previews last week, performing in line with Top Gun: Maverick and The Batman, and beating same-day previews for The Greatest Showman, Moana and Mary Poppins Returns.
Wicked’s Oz opening is well above key comps including Wonka, Frozen, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Jungle Book and Mamma Mia 2, and is Universal’s top start of the year.
Korea gave Wicked a No. 1 $4.7M bow, with 47% share and strong audience scores. The opening is above Gladiator II’s launch last week, as well as The Little Mermaid and more than 3x Barbie while in line with Mamma Mia 2 and Bohemian Rhapsody. Wicked marked Uni’s biggest Korea start of 2024 (excluding previews) and the 2nd best for a stage musical adaptation ever (behind Les Misérables).
In Mexico, Wicked opened to $4M, surpassing the total lifetimes of Les Misérables, Mamma Mia 2 and Mary Poppins Returns. The weekend result is above Frozen, almost double The Greatest Showman and more than 4x La La Land (excluding previews) for Universal’s biggest live-action opening of 2024, Chu’s biggest opening in the market, and the biggest opening ever for a stage musical adaptation. On Thursday, Wicked delivered the biggest ever opening day for a stage musical adaptation and Universal’s biggest live-action opening of the year, while Wednesday evening previews outgrossed titles with the same preview strategy including Wonka, the latest Hunger Games and Mission: Impossible 7, beating the full opening days of Les Misérables (+89%) and Mamma Mia 2 (+17%). The stage musical played in the market from 2013-15 (415 shows).
Rounding out the Top 5 markets, Brazil opened with $1.8M across 1,416 screens, in line with Frozen and more than double Mamma Mia 2, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Greatest Showman and Les Misérables. This is Universal’s biggest live-action opening of 2024, Chu’s biggest opening ever and the best for a stage musical adaptation.
Also notable, the Philippines achieved Universal’s biggest Saturday since the start of the pandemic (ahead of Jurassic World Dominion), and is on track for a $1.7M weekend, in line with Barbie (-4%) and surpassing the total lifetimes of key comps including Les Misérables, Mamma Mia 2, Wonka and La La Land.
Spain ($1.7M), Italy ($1.5M), Indonesia ($1.1M) and New Zealand ($800K) round out the Top 10.
Still to come are France (December 4), China (December 6), Germany (December 12) and Japan (March 7, 2025).
Returning to Gladiator II, the holdover drop was a strong 42% with the UK leading the 64 markets now in play. The gross there is $23.1M after two frames. G2 is still No. 1 in France, now with $17.7M after just a 39% dip, followed by Spain ($11.9M), Mexico ($10.1M) and Australia ($8.9M). China was new this session, taking in $3M (local titles took the top three spots in the market). The overseas Imax total on G2 is $12M for $21.4M global.
Imax CEO Rich Gelfond beamed, “Gladiator II and Wicked delivered one of the best one-two punches at the global box office that Imax has ever had. With the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend and Moana 2 yet ahead, moviegoing is surging at the right time, as the year draws to a close and a phenomenal 2025 slate arrives.”
Crossing $100M worldwide earlier this week, Amazon MGM Studios’ Red One, which Warner Bros is releasing internationally, added $8.7M from 75 overseas markets (-43%). The offshore cume is now $64.2M for $117.1M global. Tops to date are the UK ($7.5M), Mexico ($6.2M), Germany ($4.4M), Australia ($3.3M) and Spain ($3.2M).
Sony’s Venom: The Last Dance added another $7.8M from 66 markets for a $322.6M international cume and $456.4M global.
Studiocanal’s Paddington in Peru shared space with Wicked and Gladiator in the UK & Ireland this weekend, but is still having a sweet time, now with approximately $31M in the market. That’s off of a $5.4M third frame, a 37% ease from last session.
MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE
The Wild Robot (UNI): $3.8M intl weekend (80 markets); $176.7M intl cume/$317.4M global
Conclave (FilmNation): $1.6M intl weekend/$4.3M intl cume
I’m Still Here (SNY): $1.5M Brazil weekend/$6.6M Brazil cume
Smile 2 (PAR): $870K intl weekend (52 markets); $68.1M intl cume/$135.9M global
PREVIOUS, SATURDAY UPDATE Universal’s Wicked is sitting pretty in its global debut, now with a projected $165M through Sunday. As expected, the bulk of the bucks going into the witches’ cauldron is coming from North America, with the anticipated split at $117M domestic and $48M from the international box office.
Globally, Wicked will see the biggest opening weekend for a film based on a Broadway adaption, ahead of Les Miserables ($103M); the 6th biggest opening weekend of 2024 worldwide; and the 4th biggest opening weekend ever globally for a musical, ahead of The Little Mermaid ($163.6M).
Internationally, Wicked is landing within the pre-opening range. The film is out in only 61 overseas markets, repping 65% of the offshore footprint — such majors as France, China, Germany and Japan have yet to release the Jon M. Chu-directed first installment of the Broadway musical adaptation.
Still, in like-for-like launch markets, Wicked is on its way to the top start for a film based on a Broadway adaption, ahead of Les Miserables. The $48M overseas estimate also reps the 6th biggest opening weekend of all time at the international box office for a musical ahead of Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again ($43M); and the 7th biggest opening weekend ever overseas for a musical in like-for-like markets at today’s dollars ahead of Wonka ($45.7M).
The UK is under the spell of Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba and Ariana Grande’s Glinda as the lead offshore market with an expected $15M+ through Sunday. The UK & Ireland launched on Friday with a huge $4.9M for the day across 2,250 screens, the clear No. 1 title in the market with a 63% share of total box office. This marks the 2nd biggest opening Friday of the year (behind Deadpool & Wolverine). It’s also Universal’s biggest opening day since No Time To Die launched in September 2021, as well as Universal’s 5th biggest opening Friday of all time. IMAX delivered the highest-grossing opening Friday in the format for a PG film.
Ahead of the Friday opening in the market, Vue founder and CEO Tim Richards noted “record-breaking pre-sales for Wicked,” which were “tracking in line with Barbie’s last year.”
Elsewhere, Wicked is off to a No. 1 start in Australia, On Thursday it achieved the 3rd biggest opening day of 2024. Korea, which tends to lean into musicals, is at $3.3M through Saturday, with a strong 94% CGV Egg score.
Mexico opened Thursday delivering the biggest ever opening day for a stage musical adaptation and Wicked is the clear No. 1 title in the market.
There’s also, of course, the continued overseas play of Paramount and Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II to take into consideration here. The sequel began overseas rollout last weekend (ahead of domestic this session) and will be well above $200M globally through Sunday.
We will have a full international box office report tomorrow.
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