''Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' Will Be 2024's Answer to Barbenheimer
Grab your wands and swords: There’s a new exercise in counterprogramming making waves in Hollywood. Universal Pictures announced Monday that it’s shifting Wicked’s release date from Wednesday, November 27, 2024, to Friday, November 22, 2024, which now has the musical landing on the same day as Ridley Scott’s highly anticipated sequel Gladiator II. Are you not entertained?
Releasing Wicked and Gladiator II on the same day is a move straight out of last year’s #Barbenheimer playbook, which saw Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer both released on July 21, 2023. The frenzy surrounding two aesthetically opposite films opening on the same day kicked off the summer of Barbenheimer, inspiring memes and jokes that dominated the press tours for both films and took over the cultural zeitgeist. The fervor surrounding the pair ultimately drove audiences to take in a double feature of both films, preferably while dressed up in their #Barbenheimer best.
Sword and Scandal: Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal draw blood in Gladiator II.Aidan Monaghan/Paramount Pictures.
Barbie and Oppenheimer made more than $240 million combined domestically in their opening weekend—the fourth-biggest box-office weekend of all time. Ultimately, Barbie won at the box office, earning almost $1.5 billion internationally compared to Oppenheimer’s (still very impressive) $975 million. But it was Oppenheimer that prevailed at the Oscars, taking home seven trophies, including best picture, while Barbie took home just one, for best original song. Either way, it was clear that what was good for the goose (Barbie) was good for the gander (Oppenheimer).
Given the smashing, industry-revitalizing success of Barbenheimer, it’s no wonder that Wicked and Gladiator II might want to capture some of that magic. Like Barbie and Oppenheimer before them, Wicked and Gladiator II seem to be at odds aesthetically. Based on the smash hit Broadway musical, Wicked stars Emmy, Grammy, and Tony winner Cynthia Erivo and Grammy-winning pop sensation Ariana Grande as feuding and belting witches Elphaba and Glinda. The second half of the saga, Wicked: Part Two, is still scheduled to hit theaters on November 26, 2025.
Gladiator II, on the other hand, is the long-awaited follow up to Scott’s iconic, Oscar-winning Gladiator. The sequel picks up years after the original film and follows Paul Mescal’s Lucius, the grandson of a former Roman emperor, and his rivalry with Pedro Pascal’s Roman general Acacius. The film also stars Denzel Washington, Fred Hechinger, and Connie Nielsen, reprising her role as Lucilla—Lucius’s mother—from the original film.
This delicious bit of counterprogramming—witches vs. gladiators—has already inspired memes, with many attempting to combine Wicked and Gladiator II into a catchy portmanteau. While Barbenheimer was the clear choice for the combination of Barbie and Oppenheimer—Oppenharbie didn’t have the same ring to it—it’s less immediately clear which combination of Wicked and Gladiator will reign supreme: Wickediator or Gladicked (with three syllables). Wicked director Jon M. Chu, for his part, has already planted his flag in the #Wickediator camp. “#Wickediator ‘Are you not entertained?!!!” November 22nd,” tweeted Chu, sharing multiple Wicked x Gladiator II memes. Whatever the portmanteau winds up being—we vote Gladicked—it seems everyone will be “Defying Gladity” on November 22.
