Box Office: ‘Wicked’ Is Popular, Soaring to Third-Biggest Opening of 2024; ‘Gladiator II’ Entertains $60 Million Debut

variety.com:

J. Kim Murphy “Wicked” is pocketing lots of green, with the Universal release coming in on the upper side of projections to head toward the third-biggest domestic opening of the year.

Now forecasting a $117 million sum for the weekend, that’d only be behind “Deadpool & Wolverine” ($211 million) and “Inside Out 2” ($151 million) among 2024 releases.

And Paramount’s “Gladiator II” is no slouch either, landing in second place with a projected opening weekend of $60 million.

Theaters should be aglow about the two debuts, after being starved of a superlative hit through the fall. The last film to open with nine-digits (or even above $60 million) was “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” nearly three months ago. “Wicked” earned $46.7 million from 3,888 theaters across Friday and preview screenings, a good chunk of which were held earlier in the week than Thursday, which is the traditional kick-off for a new release.