In the age of streaming services, viewers have millions of films at their disposal with one click on their remotes. While this can be convenient for movie nights at home, many began to wonder if this was the beginning of the end for cinemas. Last year, the box office had one of its worst declines in recent years. However, it seems the theater’s luck changed this Thanksgiving with the release of three major hits. The highly anticipated films Wicked and Gladiator II were both released on November 22nd, followed by Disney’s Moana 2 on November, 27th. Not only are these films breaking box office records, but they are making seats fill up in the movie theaters again.
The film adaptation of the popular Broadway musical, Wicked, directed by Jon M. Chu generated $263.1 million dollars in North America and $359.2 million globally. This performance broke the box office record as the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation in history. Wicked dethroned the 1978 film Grease of this title which grossed $188.62 million dollars after its release.
Moana 2 also broke records this week by grossing $225 million dollars over five days. This film overperformed the Thanksgiving week box office record previously held by Frozen II grossing $125 million in 2019 over the course of 5 days.
Gladiator II underperformed compared to the other two films, however it grossed $44.2 million dollars over a five day period. While this number is significantly smaller in comparison to Wicked and Moana 2, this trio of films broke the record by powering the biggest Thanksgiving period in history, with a combined total of $422 million dollars across all films. This is a major improvement from 2023, in which the films Wish, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and Napoleon only grossed $125 million dollars total across the three films.
Lowellville Senior, Makenna Beeson went to see Wicked a week after its release. She bought her tickets at Cinemark Tinseltown a few days in advance, and the theater was so full that she and her mother had to buy seats apart from each other, and politely ask someone to move so they could sit together. At the time of their show, the theater was completely sold out. Makenna noticed a difference in attendance at the theater stating, “There were definitely more people, and a lot of people were waiting outside the door at the end of our showing just to wait for the theater to be cleaned because they were so excited.”
Mrs. Kerpsack had the opportunity to see both Wicked and Moana 2 at Cinemark Tinseltown. She explained how it was difficult to get tickets for these movies, even though there were multiple showings. She bought her tickets to Moana 2 three days in advance, and her Wicked tickets four days in advance, getting the last two seats before the theater sold out. Mrs. Kerpsack noticed a difference in attendance compared to her movie theater experiences in the past. She believes this had a lot to do with Wicked being such a highly anticipated movie. She saw many people trying to buy tickets at the theater the day of the show, and Wicked was occupying more theaters than other films. While the theater for Moana 2 was not sold out, it was still very busy. Mrs. Kerpsack expressed her excitement for Wicked Part 2 next year, sharing, “I thought Wicked was phenomenal, well cast and lived up to the hype. I can’t wait for part two.” She believes that the movie theaters should bring Wicked Part 1 back to the theaters before the release of part two, or maybe even do a double showing of the two films.
Natalee Macejko, a Lowellville Junior, attended Cinemark Tinseltown to see Gladiator II. She did not have any trouble getting tickets, as she went on a Sunday night and got them four hours before the movie. However, the theater was very busy and close to being sold out. Natalee explained how this movie theater experience was different from times in the past sharing, “It was different from times before because it was pretty busy, and there were people walking around with gladiator helmets and chest plates on,”
It is incredible how these three diverse films were able to break box office records together. When it starts to get dark earlier in the day and colder outside, that is the perfect time to go to the theater and see a movie. Go get yourself some popcorn and see one of these films. Or you could even see all three! All of the films are playing at Cinemark Tinseltown and Regal Cinema South in Boardman. You can purchase tickets in person at the theaters or purchase tickets on their websites in advance.
