The forthcoming release of Gladiator II and Wicked could be set to have the same impact as last year’s Barbenheimer phenomenon.
Dubbed the Glicked effect, both movies are set to take the box office by storm in the coming days when they are simultaneously released much like Barbie and Oppenheimer last year.
According to Deadline, Jon M. Chu’s Wicked and Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II are set to pull in huge takings on their openings with the former expected to pull in over $80million (£62.8million) and the latter $65million (£51million) domestically.
Wicked is also expected to popular with women while Gladiator II is set to pull in men and also older women.
At the #AcademyMuseumGala, Paul Mescal explains why he would love to see #GladiatorII x #WickedMovie's #Glicked release become a #Barbenheimer type moment pic.twitter.com/BzfQmD5Ahi
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) October 20, 2024
When asked about the potential Glicked phenomenon, Gladiator II star Paul Mescal told The Hollywood Reporter: “I don’t wanna jinx anything. How amazing would that be for this industry? I think that was such a massive moment for the industry last year and if we can replicate anything next to near that, it could be huge.”
Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande also agreed that it should be dubbed Glicked with the former telling Entertainment Tonight: “Glicked is what it is and that is what we should be doing.”
Co-star Jeff Goldblum played it down though. “I want to see Gladiator II,” he told Deadline before adding: “Nobody’s in competition – it’s an abundance mentality world with enough to go around.”
Cynthia and Ariana confirming Glicked and being confused with the various other #Wicked and #GladiatorII combination names 😭 pic.twitter.com/7kArW12s4p
— Lex (@basicalygrande) November 12, 2024
Jeff Goldblum on #Glicked : “I want to see ‘Gladiator II’… Nobody’s in competition… It’s an abundance mentality world” pic.twitter.com/5roqfC68IO
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) November 10, 2024
Reviewing Gladiator II, NME‘s Alex Flood awarded the movie three stars and said: “If you loved Gladiator, it’s odds-on you’ll enjoy this too. It’s got all of the same exciting bits – swordfighting, rousing speeches, nasty poshos getting what they deserve.
“The problem is that’s all it gives you. You want to feel like you’re watching Maximus lift off his helmet and deliver that iconic monologue for the first time again. You want the thrill of a core memory being unlocked. You want to know you’ll be quoting Mescal’s lines to your mates in the pub for the next 10 years. Gladiator 2, piously respectful as it is, can only offer a faded memory of that experience. There was a dream that was Rome – and this is kind of it.”
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