The great clash of Gladiator II and Wicked this year has sparked a unique cultural phenomenon. Just like how Barbie and Oppenheimer captured the public's imagination in 2023, Gladiator II and Wicked are now creating a buzz. Fans have come up with the new portmanteau "Glicked" to refer to this face-off. Ridley Scott's long-awaited sequel to his 2000 Oscar winner and Jon M Chu's adaptation of the beloved stage musical have been released a week apart in the UK and on the same day in the US. The hope is that this competition will inspire audiences to enjoy both movies back to back, just like they did with Barbie and Oppenheimer.

What the Stars Think

Paul Mescal, who stars as Lucius in Gladiator II, expressed his excitement about the potential impact of Glicked. He told Entertainment Tonight, "If it has a similar effect to what it did for Barbie and Oppenheimer, it would be amazing." Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, who co-star as Elphaba and Glinda in Wicked, were also on board with the concept. Erivo said, "Glicked is what it is and that is what we should be doing."The artists on social media have also jumped on the mashup. Eqarti posted a poster placing Mescal's Gladiator next to Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, as they head toward Oz, with the caption: "goodbye barbenheimer, it's time for glicked." Another meme placed Lucius and Glinda in the same pose as Michelangelo's Creation of Adam on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

The Box Office Success

The opening weekend for Gladiator II in the UK and Ireland was £9.1m, making it the biggest opening for a Scott picture. The film entered the international box office last week with $87m, marking the biggest international R-rated opening weekend for Paramount Pictures and the best overseas debut for Scott. His highest-grossing films include The Martian ($630m globally) and Gladiator ($465m globally)."Wicked is also going to be absolutely extraordinary," said Richards. "We've sold almost a quarter of a million tickets before a single screening – that's more pre-sales than Barbie. They're talking of an opening weekend of somewhere between $160m and $200m."

The Doubts and Warnings

Despite the enthusiasm, some fans are becoming wary of the constant attempts to recreate Barbenheimer. One TikTok user said, "There will never be another barbenheimer." Another person posted on X: "stop trying to make glicked happen."David Hancock, a media and entertainment analyst at Omdia, agreed that Glicked was entirely manufactured. He said, "It isn't a double bill. Gladdington was also tried, and didn't set alight, because it seemed forced and derivative."The reason Barbenheimer took off, Hancock added, was because it came together organically. "It was a particular moment [in the recovery of cinema], at a particular time [summer] with particular films [they both were original scripts]."Similarly, Phil Clapp, CEO of the UK Cinema Association, said he would "hesitate to draw too many parallels with the almost unique set of circumstances" around Barbenheimer.

The Return to Normal

Clapp said what was actually happening right now was "something like a return to the normal pattern of major releases we saw pre-pandemic and pre-Hollywood strikes." The successive release of Paddington in Peru, Gladiator 2, Wicked, and Moana 2 and Mufasa: The Lion King later this month is "a hugely welcome fillip" for cinemas after a prolonged period of restricted releases.Richards also emphasised that the standout story of this season was a return to the pre-pandemic market of film releases. Whether Glicked is a thing or not, there was a huge buzz and fans were flocking to theatres – which was a good thing. "It reinforces the fact that audiences are there, and we just need movies that bring them to theatres. Suddenly we're very good value for an evening out because people are having an amazing time and want to come back."