Universal’s colossal bet on musicals Wicked was originally planned to compete with Disney Animation’s five-quad film Vaiana 2 on Wednesday, November 27, the day before Thanksgiving, but will now be released five days earlier, on Friday, November 22. A very smart release date change.
Both films are aimed at women. But Wicked has a fan base of 30 million people worldwide who have seen the Stephen Schwartz show. Not to mention it’s the first of two parts – this movie has to work. Uni isn’t making a Horizon scenario here.
The new, earlier date puts it up against Paramount’s Gladiator IIpotentially creating a Barbenheimer moment: one big, highly anticipated film aimed at men, the other at women. Both films have a lot of box office potential ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, and as we saw over Barbenheimer weekend, moviegoers will be watching both. Uni has already seen this scenario last July with the film about men Oppenheimer opening at $82.4 million against Barbie$162 million.
During its 21 years of existence, the Wicked The musical grossed $2.5 billion worldwide.
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Wicked is one of the flagship films of the Uni for this year, in the Jurassic World: Dominion sense of the word. The trailer that aired during the Super Bowl has already been viewed 230 million times online, with trailer #1 already garnering 216 million. If that doesn’t scream curiosity, I don’t know what will. The studio has made it a big part of its CinemaCon sessions, not just this year with a visual spectacle of tulips, plus the presence of Ariana Grande (Glinda) and Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba), but also last year with a behind-the-scenes look.
This is probably the first time that a musical has been divided into two parts, with the second half being devoted to the musical. Wicked opening on November 26, 2025. Crazy Rich Asians Director Jon M. Chu directed the film, with the musical’s original producers Marc Platt and David Stone also producing the film version. Executive producers are David Nicksay, Schwartz, and Jared LeBoff.
On November 22, the Angel Studios cinema will also open its doors. Bonhoeffer.
In the meantime, Vaiana 2 is now the only film to be released widely on November 27th. If anyone has any counter-programming, i.e. a low-budget action or horror film, there is an open slot on that date.
Gn entert
News Source : deadline.com
