Wicked continued to make box office history with $15.8 million in Monday ticket sales, a November record for the first day of the week, not adjusted for inflation.
That’s well ahead of the previous the previous record-holder, 2019’s Frozen II, which skated to $12.7 million on its first Monday after unfurling the weekend before Turkey Day. The list of top November Mondays also includes 2013’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire with $12.3 million and 2012’s Skyfall with $11.3 million (the latter two were also Thanksgiving titles).
The Jon M. Chu-directed Wicked finished Monday with a domestic cume of $128.3 million after opening to a history-making $112.5 million, the top-showing ever for a film based on a Broadway musical and and one of the biggest openings of all time for a big-screen musical. Globally, the movie’s total is already nearing $200 million.
Gladiator II, from director Ridley Scott, earned $5.5 million on Monday after opening to a strong $55 million domestically for an early global total north of $226 million.
Many schools are already on holiday break, helping to explain why all of Thanksgiving week is a lucrative corridor for moviegoing, including Monday.
This year, the combination of Universal’s Wicked, Paramount’s Gladiator II and Walt Disney Animation’s Moana 2 — which opens everywhere on Wednesday following Tuesday previews — is expected to result in record ticket sales for the five-day holiday weekend (Wednesday through Sunday) thanks to theaters having a trio of tentpoles that collectively offer something for females and males of all ages.
Wicked and Gladiator II opted to open last weekend in order to take advantage of the full week and to provide some distance from the Moana 2, which has spawned the phrase “Moanapocalpyse.” The animated sequel is tracking for a record-shattering Thanksgiving debut in the $125 million to $135 million range for the five days (for context, that’s ahead of the Frozen franchise).
Moana 2, also a musical, has the advantage of being a being the only PG-rated family film on the Thanksgiving marquee. Moreover, the first Moana, released in 2016 to solid but not spectacular numbers, has since transformed into a cultural sensation among kids — last year, it was the most streamed movie across all platforms.
