OVER the course of weekend, another record was set after the musical adaptation of Wicked and Gladiator II attained a combined P15.9 billion in global ticket sales worldwide.
Dubbed as “Glicked’ by fans, both Wicked and Gladiator II brought $169.5 million at domestic theaters–contributing to the weekend box office to $201.9 million (P11.9 billion.) It is recorded as the highest-grossing weekend in North America since the opening of Deadpool & Wolverine in July, according to Comscore.
Wicked, based on the Broadway prequel of The Wizard of Oz, topped both local and global box office–pulling $114 million (P6.7 billion) at U.S. and Canadian theaters. It also reached the international market that reached $50.2 million (P3 billion) in international markets.
Wicked follows the story of a misunderstood green-skinned witch who later becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. The second Wicked film is scheduled to be released in November 2025.
For a global total, Wicked reached a total of $164.2 million (P9.7 billion).
According to the studio Paramount Pictures, it was the biggest opening weekend for a film based on a Broadway musical. It is ahead of the global debut of 2012 Universal’s Les Miserables.
Meanwhile, Gladiator II earned $106 million (P6.2 billion) worldwide, including $55.5 million (P3.3 billion) in domestic sales. Gladiator II is the follow-up to a film that took home the Oscar for best picture twenty years ago. The movie, which debuted outside the US, brought $221 million (P13 billion) to the box office.
While ‘Glicked’ earned a lot of recognition in both local and international theaters, it fell $245 million (P14.4 billion) short over the Barbie and Oppenheimer opening frenzy back in July 2023.
