With a combined $270 million in worldwide ticket sales, “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” breathed fresh life into a box office that has struggled lately, leading to one of the busiest moviegoing

Based on a Broadway prequel to "The Wizard of Oz", the movie pulled in $114 million at U.S. and Canadian theaters, plus $50.2 million in international markets, for an estimated global total of $164.2 million.

Battling a 27 percent decline in domestic ticket sales compared with before the pandemic, studios left no marketing drum unthumped in releasing the movies.