“Wicked” defies box office gravity to debut as No. 1 film worldwide

Jon M. Chu’s big-screen musical raked in $114 million in the U.S. this weekend, with 'Gladiator II' slashing at its heels in second place.

Moviegoers got Wicked this weekend, driving the long-awaited adaptation of the beloved Broadway hit to the top of the box office charts around the globe.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande’s green and pink magic conjured up $114 million in ticket sales in the U.S., averaging $29,321 in ticket sales across the 3,888 theaters.

Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures Cynthia Erivo's Elphaba and Ariana Grande's Glinda arrive in the Emerald City in 'Wicked'

Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures

Cynthia Erivo's Elphaba and Ariana Grande's Glinda arrive in the Emerald City in 'Wicked'

Jon M. Chu's eye-popping film, which also stars Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, and Bowen Yang, has earned $164.2 worldwide as of Sunday.

Related: Wicked review: This musical adaptation hits the right notes, but lacks visual variety

Gladiator II claimed the No. 2 box-office spot this weekend. Ridley Scott’s directorial return pulled in $55.5 million across 3.573 theaters in its domestic debut, setting a record for an R-rated film’s biggest November opening.

Paul Mescal,  Pedro Pascal, and Denzel Washington headline the follow-up to Russell Crowe's Oscar-winning turn in 2000’s Gladiator. The two-decades-later sequel earned an additional $50.5 million internationally for cumulative earnings global earnings of $221 million.

Aidan Monaghan/Paramount Denzel Washington plays Macrinus, Pedro Pascal plays General Acacius and Connie Nielsen plays Lucilla in 'Gladiator II'

Aidan Monaghan/Paramount

Denzel Washington plays Macrinus, Pedro Pascal plays General Acacius and Connie Nielsen plays Lucilla in 'Gladiator II'

Audiences were also feeling festive this weekend, with the Chris Evans/Dwayne Johnson Santa bounty hunter comedy Red One landing its sleigh in the No. 3 slot. An additional $13.3 in ticket sales gives director Jake Kasdan’s film a nice-not-naughty overall domestic haul of $117 million after two weeks of release.

At No. 4 on the box-office list, the literally named Bonhoeffer: Paster. Spy.  Assassin. — seriously, it’s all right there in the title! — earned $13.28 million in its debut weekend across 1,900 theaters nationwide. Bonhoeffer tells the story of a preacher at the center of a plot to assassinate Hitler. (See? Pastor, spy, assassin.)

Related: Now entering the arena: Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal unsheathe Gladiator II

Rounding out the top five films of the weekend was Venom: The Last Dance. As it entered its second month of release, the R-rated Tom Hardy super(anti)hero sequel earned another $4 million for a total haul of $133.8 million.

Claiming the six through 10 spots domestically this weekend were The Best Christmas Pageant Ever ($3.5 million), Heretic ($2.23 million), The Wild Robot ($2.0 million), Smile 2 ($1.11 million), and A Real Pain ($1.1 million).

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

Globally, the five most popular films of the weekend mirror the U.S. list save for the No. 4 slot, which saw Chinese comedy-drama Her Story pull in $16.6 million in its debut weekend.

Her Story centers its narrative on two women, a jobless single mother and her seemingly chipper new neighbor.