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Join Telegram ChannelGladiator 2, Wicked and Moana 2 will be released at the same time during Thanksgiving week and will have the difficult mission of making up for sluggish revenues.
Call it “Glicked” or “Wickdiator”. A new cinematic phenomenon is brewing in a few days. One year after the famous “Barbenheimer”, combining the epic and simultaneous successes of barbie And Oppenheimer in cinema, the industry hopes that Wicked And Gladiator II will be able to pick up the torch, during the week of Thanksgiving 2024. The pink and green musical comedy and Ridley Scott's epic action film will both be released in American theaters on Friday, November 22, a week before Thanksgiving.
“It won't happen the same way, but the forecast for Wicked And Gladiator 2 reminiscent of Barbenheimer” analyzes Fandango director of film analysis Shawn Robbins in Variety. “Because the two films feed off each other.”
And this time, the duo will be supported by a third thief: Moana 2 ! The Disney sequel will arrive in theaters on Wednesday, November 27, on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday in the USA and should provide the additional boost that will revive the US box office, after a month of October marked by the enormous flop of Joker: Folie à Deux. A miss that comes at a bad time, when revenues in American theaters are already showing a drop of more than 11% compared to 2023 and almost 27% compared to 2019!
Farmers are therefore counting on the end-of-year holidays to restore the turkey, which is very thin this year. “The industry considers Wicked, Gladiator II And Moana 2 like the Holy Trinity of cinema. It's hard to remember a Thanksgiving lineup with this much potential” insists Robbins, who wants to be optimistic.
All three films should get off to a solid start: Wicked is aiming for a launch of around $80 million in America, during its release weekend, while Gladiator 2 should approach $60 million between Friday and Sunday. Then, Moana 2 is aiming for just over $100 million for its big five-day weekend across the Atlantic. A Thanksgiving record at the US box office is even possible, analysts believe. It is held by the period of 2018, with 315 million dollars raised in particular by Ralph 2.0, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald And Creed II.
It should be noted that in France – where Thanksgiving does not exist – the three films will have slightly different release dates. If Moana 2 will arrive on our screens at the same time (November 27), Gladiator 2 will be released 10 days earlier here, on November 13. As for Wickedthe musical will wait until December 4 to arrive in our cinemas.