Whether “ Wicked ” and “ Gladiator II ” inspires an unorthodox double feature à la last summer’s simultaneous blockbusters “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” remains a question. Either way, there’s a box office battle brewing between Universal’s pink-and-green musical and Paramount’s bloody sword-and-sandal epic, both of which open on Friday.

The box office languished this fall after a record-breaking summer, though the trifecta of “Wicked,” “Gladiator II” and “Moana 2” are expected to be big hits this month.

The Hollywood epic Gladiator II directed by Ridley Scott and starring Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal, has had a mixed performance at the Indian box office

As predicted, Gladiator II has made a strong entrance at the Spanish box office. The highly anticipated sequel to the film that revived the sword-and-sandal genre at the beginning of this century, winning over critics and audiences alike,

Produced on a reported budget of over $200 million, Gladiator II stars Paul Mescal. See how much the Ridley Scott sequel has already made globally.

Expensive comic book movies, starry comedies, Christmas fare, Westerns and auteur-driven sci-fi epics all spectacularly imploded. Major titles played to a couple of dudes who snuck in at 11 a.m.

Paramount’s “Gladiator II” dominated the U.K. and Ireland box office with a £9.1 million ($11.5 million) opening weekend, according to numbers from Comscore. Studiocanal’s “Paddington In Peru” maintained momentum in its sophomore session,