Holiday Ayo - The film "Wicked" starring Chintya Erivo and Ariana Grande managed to earn US$114 million (IDR 1,8 trillion) in the United States from 3,888 theaters over the weekend and became the number 1 box office film there.

Quoted from Variety, Sunday (11/24), the film adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same title was ranked 3rd as the biggest domestic debut this year, followed by the films "Deadpool & Wolverine" (US$211 million or IDR 3,3 trillion) and "Inside Out 2" (US$154 million or IDR 2,4 trillion).

Among other things, “Wicked” earned the fourth-biggest debut in history for a musical, topping Disney’s recent remake of “The Little Mermaid” ($95.5 million) and behind “Frozen II” ($130 million).

Also read: Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo Play “Wicked” in Paris

The film also became the best opening (so far) for a Broadway adaptation to film, surpassing the record held by 2014’s “Into the Woods” ($31 million).

“Wicked” also earned an additional $50.2 million at the international box office, bringing its global total to $164.2 million.

The film marked the biggest worldwide opening for a film based on a Broadway show, surpassing another Universal musical, “Les Miserables,” with $103 million in 2012.

See also: OMODA “collaborates” on Universal Pictures’ new film “Wicked”

“This is a monster,” said David A. Gross, managing director of the film consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research.

“The audiences made the singing and costumed experience their own,” he added.

While “Wicked” appealed to women (nearly 75 percent of ticket buyers) and families, men flocked to “Gladiator II,” the sequel a quarter-century in the making from director Ridley Scott.

The bloody swords-and-sandals epic opened solidly in second place (though below expectations) with $55.5 million from 3,573 theaters over the weekend.

It’s unclear whether “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” will be a tie-in, like “Barbenheimer,” the unlikely phenomenon of 2023 when tens of thousands of moviegoers chose between Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.”

Regardless, last weekend was one of the biggest weekends of the year, with an estimated $210 million in total. Still, ticket sales for the year are still 10.5 percent behind 2023 and 26.6 percent behind 2019, according to Comscore.

The 2-hour, 40-minute film has an “A” CinemaScore and a 90 percent average on Rotten Tomatoes.

Warm critical reception, positive word-of-mouth and a catchy musical soundtrack are expected to drive repeat sales through the Thanksgiving holiday and into December.

"Gladiator II" also had a huge budget, with over $250 million to produce and about $100 million to promote, so it needed a huge global gross to be considered a success. So far, the sequel has made $221 million at the worldwide box office.