Audiences held space for the lyrics of “Defying Gravity” this weekend, coming out to see Wicked in record numbers. The filmed topped the box office on Glicked weekend, making $114 million domestically and $164.2 million internationally. According to Variety, women were the majority of ticket holders, with nearly 75 percent identifying so. Poor Gladiator II only had the fellas to support it, coming in at No. 2 with $55.5 million domestically. Will no one think of the fellas?
Box-office analysts aren’t sure yet if Wicked and Gladiator II saw a full Barbenheimer effect — people going to both movies in the same night. However, Wicked is already breaking records for movies based on Broadway shows. It surpassed Into the Woods ($31 million) as the best domestic opening for a Broadway adaptation, and it had a bigger international opening than Les Misérables’s $103 million in 2012. That film eventually earned $442 million globally, so we’ll see if Wicked stays as popular.