The opening weekend box office numbers are in, and both Wicked and Gladiator II managed to open lower than estimated.
However, the flicks are seeing big draws from foreign audiences. It remains to be seen if both movies will have any legs, at least domestically.
Next week sees Moana 2 open, which is expected to be big. Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 both open Dec. 20, so there seems room for either Wicked and/or Gladiator II to have a decent box office performance up until Christmas.
What is Wicked‘s opening box office?
Estimates offered Wicked could open to as high as $140 million, but the flick brought in $114M. Update: Actuals are lower at $112,508,890.
That’s still better than the possible lowest estimate of $110M but it’s lower than the estimated $120M+ following its big Thursday preview numbers which included fan screenings held on Monday and Wednesday.
It’s as I said, Wicked has a big fanbase who showed up and frontloaded the fan screenings, Thursday previews, and Friday opening, but Saturday and Sunday dipped a bit.
Now the big question is whether or not Wicked will have any legs. Internationally, Wicked brought in another $50.18M so its current worldwide gross is at $164.18M, which doesn’t seem bad at all. Update: Actuals are lower at $50,001,000 foreign and $162,509,890 worldwide.
What is Gladiator II‘s opening box office?
Estimates also offered Gladiator II could open to as high as $80M. However, the flick only opened to $55.5M, which is below the lowest estimate of $60M. Update: Actuals are lower at $55,034,715.
Similar to Wicked, Gladiator II also brought in less than the estimates after its Thursday previews, which at the time were $59M-$66M. Friday night estimates were then $61M, with Saturday morning estimates at $60M.
Again, fewer people turned out on Saturday and Sunday. While the domestic numbers aren’t all that good, Gladiator II is seeing a big foreign gross, currently at $165.5M. The worldwide gross is at $221M. Update: Worldwide is lower, at $220,534,715.
Reportedly, the Gladiator II budget is $350M, so the flick has a ways to go to break even.
