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It’s become exceptionally rare for more than one major movie to be released on the same weekend. No studio wants to split their potential box office receipts, so a great deal of work is done to build a release calendar where every weekend has one major release, but no weekend has more than one. And yet it does happen, as it is this weekend with Wicked: Part One and Gladiator II.
Last year we had the famous Barbenheimer scenario when both Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer were released on the same day. This year we have Wickediator, or Glicked, depending on your preference. For his part, Gladiator II star Paul Mescal thinks that like Barbie and Oppenheimer, both movies can be successful because they largely play to different audiences. Speaking to Variety Mescal said…
I think they complement each other really well because they’re so different. And if you love cinema, get out there and support it. Don’t wait for it to come on a streamer, because we’re at a critical junction. We have been for a little while with theatrical films. If cinema is a thing for you, get out and see both films.
Both Barbie and Oppenheimer were box office hits, and the same is certainly possible for Wicked and Gladiator II. One of the reasons that the studios involved didn’t move one of these films is very likely for the reason that Mescal says here. The movies are so different that there probably isn’t a lot of concern that one movie will lose business to the other.
Certainly, one film is a bright and colorful musical based on a Broadway show and one is a bloody and violent action/drama. While there may certainly be audiences that want to see both films eventually, it’s likely that one or the other appeals to most people significantly more.
Wicked actually moved up its release date, so the movie ultimately chose to compete with Gladiator II. That likely made more sense than its original plan, which was to open on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving along with the upcoming Disney movie Moana 2. Since both of those films are musicals, they likely would have cannibalized each other’s box office much more significantly.
Of course, there were those people who turned Barbenheimer into a double feature and watched both films, and that could certainly happen here as well. Mescal hopes that people do support both movies if for no other reason than to support theatrical distribution, which is still largely suffering compared to where box office numbers were pre-pandemic.
While both movies could, and likely will, do quite well at the box office, eyes will be on which one performs better, both at the box office and during awards season. While Barbie became the box office king last time it was Oppenheimer that took home the awards.