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

“Wicked” collected an additional $50.2 million at the international box office, bringing its global tally to $164.2 million. It marks the biggest worldwide opening for a film based on a Broadway show, supplanting another Universal musical, “Les Miserables,” with $103 million in 2012.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande’s "Wicked" dominates Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington’s “Gladiator II” this weekend at the domestic box office.