This Thanksgiving weekend saw massive releases in Moana 2, Wicked, Gladiator II and Red One. Moana 2 was the only film of the 4 that opened on Thanksgiving weekend, grossing $163.5 Million in the U.S. and $221 Million worldwide, putting it just below Wicked ($262.5 Million overall and $97 Million last weekend), just above Gladiator II ($111 Million overall and $37.5 Million last weekend) and far above Red One ($76 Million overall and $16 Million this weekend). So far, Moana 2 is expected to meet its $375 Million dollar threshold to break even with its budget of $150 Million (generally multiply the budget by 2.5. Wicked is also projected to break even and be a phenomenal financial success. Gladiator II and Red One, however, still have a long way to go before breaking even and making a profit. While it is likely that Gladiator will break even, it is possible that it will not be the huge financial success it was planned to be. Red One, on the other hand, is underperforming hard and will likely fail to break even with its $250 Million budget.
Gladiator 2, although very hyped up because of the first Gladiator movie, turned out to be a direct copy and paste of the first movie with different characters. However, Gladiator 2 didn’t utilize any of the elements that worked in Gladiator 1. Where the first Gladiator movie showed us Maximus’s personality and life story before tearing it apart so that we were actually emotionally invested in it, the second Gladiator movie gives one scene of the main character Lucius and his wife before throwing them into battle and killing his wife off in “dramatic” fashion with an arrow through the chest. Although Gladiator 2 did have a few more twists and turns than Gladiator 1, the emotional performance of the actors in Gladiator 1 could not be matched and Gladiator 2 ended up seeming dull in comparison. However, it wasn’t all bad. Gladiator 2 was all style and no substance, but the style was good. The close one-on-one fight scenes and betrayal scenes were spot on, but the overall plot of the movie doesn’t do it justice.
Indresh Chandel 