Gladiator 2 Box Office Unlocks Another All-Time Highest-Grossing List, Beating Out Quentin Tarantino's 2019 Oscar-Nominated Movie

Gladiator II has passed a major movie to enter an elite box office list. Gladiator II was released on November 22, on the same day as the major musical adaptation Wicked. In a Barbenheimer repeat, their joint release was referred to colloquially as "Glicked." Wicked came out on top by a landslide in this box office battle, opening to $112 million against Gladiator II's $55 million. Still, Gladiator II has maintained decent reviews and done fairly well at the box office over the course of the four weekends that it has been in theaters.

As per The Numbers and Box Office Mojo, Gladiator II has now crossed into an important box office list. Gladiator II is now one of the top 50 highest-grossing R-rated movies of all time. In order to make this record, Gladiator II had to pass the 2019 Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood. It did so, making it to a $380 million gross worldwide. Now, the movie sits at no. 50 on this list, ranked just below Fifty Shades Darker.

What This Means For Gladiator II

Gladiator II Has Made Other Milestones

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This R-rated movie record is not the only achievement Gladiator II has had at the box office since its release. The movie has also become the top-grossing film in Denzel Washington's career. This is impressive given Washington has been acting for decades, and his work has included The Equalizer franchise and more. Gladiator II also has the honor of being one of the top 5 highest-grossing films in director Ridley Scott's career, taking the no. 4 slot. The film will likely rise to at least no. 3 on this list, as it only trails Prometheus by about $22 million.

Gladiator II's recent record is impressive for the film itself, but it also brings attention to how well R-rated movies have done at the box office this year. Deadpool & Wolverine passed Oppenheimer and Joker to become the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, bringing in over $1.3 billion. 2024 also saw another release enter the top 50, with this summer's Bad Boys: Ride or Die. Alien Romulus also made it into the top 100 (at no. 62). These achievements collectively go to show how well R-rated movies have been performing recently.

Our Take On Gladiator II's Record

The Film Still Has A Long Way To Go To Profit

While there is a positive outlook that can be gleaned from this Gladiator II record, I think it would be short-sighted to only look at Scott's sequel film as a success. While the movie has pulled big numbers, Gladiator II's budget has been estimated to be at least $250 million, with some sources guessing it cost upwards of $300 million. This means that Gladiator II needs anywhere between $625 million to $750 million to break even. Though Gladiator II's box office momentum is impressive, it still has a long way to go to be a true success.

Source: The Numbers and Box Office Mojo