Barbenheimer 2.0: sequel to «Gladiator» and «Wicked» to face off in a box office battle with simultaneous release on November 22

The films will have to earn more than $2 billion together to compete with the previous Barbie-Oppenheimer duo.

Universal recently established the world release date of the movie «Wicked» is November 22 — and it coincides with the release long-awaited «Gladiator 2».

The network immediately started talking about a new «Barbenheimer» — cultural phenomenon that arose from the simultaneous premiere of «Barbie» and «Oppenheimer» The trend at the time caused a flood of memes that mixed characters from both films in images, despite the fact that the films were radically different — «Oppenheimer» was a dramatic story about the creator of the atomic bomb, while «Barbie» was positioned as a «pink» comedy, but with quite serious meanings.

Despite the fact that the creators of both films supported each other and urged to watch the two premieres simultaneously, there were rumors that the director of «Oppenheimer» was very upset about the clash of dates, and Margot Robbie, who played the main role in «Barbie», admitted that the producer of the biopic called her and offered to postpone her debut, but she refused.

In the end, these events did not prevent «Barbie» become «the richest» movie of 2023 and for Warner Bros. in general, and «Oppenheimer» get the title of the highest-grossing biopic. In total, the films have earned more than $2 billion between them.

Ridley Scott’s «Gladiator 2» continues one of the biggest films of the 2000s — the original earned $465 million at the box office and won five «Oscars». The sequel has attracted stars such as Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal to the cast, so we expect even bigger achievements from the sequel.

Meanwhile, «Wicked», directed by «Crazy Rich Asians» creator John Chu — is the first part of a two-part adaptation of one of the most famous musicals that has attracted stars such as Michelle Yeoh, Ariana Grande, Jeff Goldblum and Jonathan Bailey. The original musical has earned more than $5 billion worldwide since its premiere in 2003.