The musical fantasy, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as witches Galinda and Elphaba, is based on the Broadway musical “Wicked,” which was loosely adapted from the novel “Wicked, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister.” It purports to tell the “real” story of what happened in Oz before Dorothy arrived.

Wicked” is pocketing lots of green, with the Universal release coming in on the upper side of projections to head toward the third-biggest domestic opening of the year. Now forecasting a $117 million sum for the weekend,

Glicked weekend is currently looking like a $120M opening for Universal’s Wicked after a $48.5M Friday plus previews, while Gladiator II is shaping up to a $23.5M Friday/previews turning into a $61M opening weekend.

Gladiator II' will hit theaters 24 years after the first film came out (2000) and won five Oscars the following year.

Now, director Ridley Scott is returning to ancient Rome with the long-awaited sequel, "Gladiator II" which hits theaters Friday. The film stars Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, and Pedro Pascal in a story set in the same brutal Roman Empire —one that didn't leave Scott's mind in the years since its first release.

Deeming it "very unfortunate," Ridley Scott addresses a scary Gladiator II filming mishap that ended up sending multiple crew members to the hospital.