Wicked proves popular as opening set to be biggest for Broadway film

The film Wicked, featuring stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, has made a significant impact as it opens in theaters. The movie is projected to achieve the highest-grossing opening weekend for any Broadway musical adaptation in both the UK and Ireland, as well as in North America. According to the Boxoffice Company, Wicked is expected to earn an impressive $114 million in North America during its opening weekend, surpassing the previous record held by Les Miserables, which earned $103 million globally during its opening weekend back in 2012. In the UK and Ireland, the film is forecasted to bring in $17. 6 million this weekend, marking it as the top-grossing opening weekend of 2024. The Boxoffice Company also noted that this weekend has been the strongest at the box office before the Thanksgiving holiday since 2013. Wicked, which is based on a book that tells the backstory of the Wicked Witch of the West, has been a beloved musical on Broadway and has been running in the West End for two decades. In North America, the film adaptation made $46. 48 million on Friday, which includes earnings from Thursday premieres, and $36 million on Saturday. The audience demographics showed a significant female skew, with 72% of viewers being women and 67% being over the age of 25. This is considered a 'massive victory' for Universal, as stated by Daniel Loria from Boxoffice. Wicked's opening weekend ranks as the third biggest in the US this year, following Deadpool & Wolverine, which earned $211 million in July, and Inside Out 2, which made $154 million in June. Additionally, the soundtrack featuring hits like Popular and Defying Gravity, performed by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, has climbed the charts on various streaming services. The upcoming weeks will reveal whether Wicked can match the worldwide earnings of other Broadway film adaptations such as Les Miserables, which grossed $442 million, and Chicago, which earned $306 million. In North America, Gladiator II, a sequel to Ridley Scott's 2000 epic, also opened this weekend, earning $22 million on Friday and $18. 8 million on Saturday. It is projected to make $55. 5 million over its opening weekend. However, Loria predicts that Moana 2, set to release on Wednesday in the US, could take the top spot among the three films in North America. With more viewers expected to flock to see Wicked and Gladiator II during the holiday week, there is potential for this Thanksgiving weekend to become the highest-grossing one on record in North America. Cinemas in the US celebrated the strong performance on Sunday, especially after facing challenges due to the pandemic. The National Association of Theatre Owners hailed this weekend as one of the most successful November weekends ever at the box office. In the UK and Ireland, Wicked's opening weekend was the largest for Universal since the release of No Time to Die, the latest James Bond film distributed by the company in 2021. Gladiator II, which opened on November 15 in the UK and Ireland, made $11. 4 million during its first weekend but saw a drop to $6 million this weekend, which Loria described as a 'fairly strong performance. ' Alongside Paddington In Peru, which earned £9. 7 million on its opening weekend on November 8, this period is considered one of the most exciting times for the box office in the UK post-pandemic.