Wicked' and 'Gladiator 2' kicked off Thursday night respectively grossing $20M and $6M+ in previews. 'Wicked's cash includes earlier previews.

Wicked,' starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, and 'Gladiator II,' starring Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal, both open wide this weekend.

Wicked and Gladiator II are both off to a strong start at the box office; however, it won’t be as big of an opening weekend as Barbenheimer. Wicked and Gladiator II are both now playing in United States theaters.

Whether “ Wicked ” and “ Gladiator II ” inspires an unorthodox double feature à la last summer’s simultaneous blockbusters “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” remains a question. Either way, there’s a box office battle brewing between Universal’s pink-and-green musical and Paramount’s bloody sword-and-sandal epic, both of which open on Friday.