The epic action blockbuster "Gladiator II" by renowned director Ridley Scott and the magical musical film "Wicked" directed by Taiwanese-American director Jon M. Chu faced off in the same week in North America. This event, anticipated by moviegoers to be comparable to the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon ("Barbie" vs "Oppenheimer"), has been nicknamed "Glicked" ("Gladiator" "Wicked"). Fans gathered in cinemas over the weekend, generating a box office of $205 million (approximately 915 million MYR) in North America. "Wicked" sold well at $114 million (approximately 500 million MYR), setting the highest opening weekend record in the history of Broadway-adapted films; "Gladiator II" broke through with a $220 million (approximately 980 million MYR) global box office.
"Gladiator II" and "Wicked", two of the most anticipated blockbusters of the year, collectively attracted 12 million viewers in North America, accounting for 81% of the total moviegoers this weekend. This performance is worth celebrating as it rivals the box office results before Thanksgiving in 2019, when "Frozen II" boosted all films' combined box office to $204.9 million (approximately 915 million MYR), marking the brightest market performance since "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" in 2013. Undoubtedly, this is the best pre-Thanksgiving box office since the pandemic. Media analysis pointed out that the antagonistic promotions for these two films targeting different audience groups indeed worked: one focusing on male audiences while the other attracted female viewers.
Source: 壹苹新闻网