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Oz or Ancient Rome? Moviegoers may have another Barbenheimer-like decision to make when "Wicked" and “Gladiator II” premiere in cinemas on the same weekend.
What Happened: Recall last summer when "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" were released on the same day and competed at the box office. “Barbenheimer,” as it was dubbed by the press and on social media, ended up working quite well with a marketing push for moviegoers to see both films.
The "Barbenheimer" weekend became the fourth highest-grossing weekend domestically all-time and was the only weekend to rank in the top 10 that didn't have a move from the Star Wars, Marvel or Jurassic Park franchises released in the same time period.
Studios and theaters hope history repeats this fall.
"Wicked," the highly anticipated movie version of the hit Broadway musical, is now opening five days earlier on Nov. 22.
Comcast Corporation-owned (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Universal reportedly moved the film to avoid going head-to-head against the Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) sequel "Moana 2" on the same day.
Instead, as reported by Deadline, the Wizard-of-Oz-inspired movie will compete against "Gladiator II" from Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)(NASDAQ:PARAA).
Why It Matters: The 2024 box office has been struggling with a decline on a year-over-year basis despite several recent hits like "Bad Boys: Ride or Die" and "Inside Out 2".
“Wicked” and “Gladiator II” could boost ticket sales by creating a double billing for sorts akin to "Barbenheimer" in 2023.
So far, the scenario caught the attention of the film industry and those who cover the sector.
Both "Wicked" and "Gladiator II" have built-in fan bases thanks to the musical that has grossed over $2.5 billion globally and the first "Gladiator" film that grossed over $450 million globally in 2000.
Universal has a planned sequel to "Wicked" and aired a teaser trailer during the Super Bowl. The movie is one of the studio's biggest bets for 2024 and competition around the Thanksgiving holiday could be a concern.
The opening weekend of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" saw the movies open with $155 million and $81 million respectively. The movies from Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) and Universal helped power the 2023 weekend to $302 million.
"Barbie" went on to gross $636.2 million domestically and $1.45 billion worldwide, ranking first in both categories for 2023. "Oppenheimer" grossed $326.1 million domestically and $975.1 million globally, ranking fifth and third respectively for 2023.
Movie theater stocks like AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE:AMC) and Cinemark Holdings (NYSE:CNK) could benefit from a marketing push of "Wicked" and "Gladiator II" together. Instead of seeing one movie, consumers might shell out the extra to see both.
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