It should be noted that the $19M in Thursday previews earned by “Wicked” was also comprised of Monday and Wednesday fan screenings, plus yesterday’s previews which began at 2PM. If we only take into account the Thursday gross, then it’s actually $11M, in 3300+ theaters.
According to Deadline, “Wicked” is well on its way to a $110M-$120M opening weekend. When all is said and done, it will be contending with “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine” as one of the highest grossing movies of the year. It helps that the “Wicked” audience scores have been very good (98% RT).
Meanwhile, Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II” earned $6.5M, in 3200+ locations, on Thursday. That figure is in the same ballpark as this summer’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” ($6.6M) which ended up with a $58M opening weekend. Take note, Paramount did not have any advanced preview days for Scott’s epic.
The budget for “Gladiator II” has been estimated at around $250M. It was released a week earlier overseas where it’s already racked up $100M+ but it’s still too early to tell if it’ll break even given that pricey budget, and the audience ratings haven’t come anywhere close to the 2000 original.
Do you really think Ellison fired Gunn before he saw a rough cut of "Man of Tomorrow"? No chance. Clearly, whatever he saw didn't impress him.