Will 'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' give us the new ‘Barbenheimer’? This weekend will be the judge

With 'Gladiator II' and the first part of 'Wicked' coming out, movie theatres are hoping that another 'Barbenheimer' drives audiences by the millions.

As most have by now picked up, two disparate, big-budget films are sharing a release date: One, an R-rated historical epic stacked with a starry cast of Oscar hopefuls. The other, a musical based on a beloved property with plenty of pink… and a second starry cast of Oscar hopefuls.

Sound familiar?

With "Gladiator II" and the first part of "Wicked" coming out on Friday, movie theatres are nearing their truest chance at another "Barbenheimer," a viral phenomenon that in 2023 drove audiences to the multiplexes by the millions, leaving a massive mark in pop culture and at the box office.

As for a name for this latest prospective double feature, perhaps presciently, "Gladiator II" star Paul Mescal thought "Glicked" (pronounced glick-id) was the most suitable portmanteau back in July.

"'Wickiator' doesn’t really roll off the tongue, does it?” he said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight at the time. "I think the films couldn’t be more polar opposite and kind of worked in that context previously, so fingers crossed people come out and see both films on opening weekend."

But as seen online, many social media users have commented that we should all stop trying to make #Glicked happen, since it lacks the organic spontaneity that defined #Barbernheimer. Tom Nunan, a lecturer at UCLA's School of Theatre, Film and TV and the founder of the production company Bull's Eye Entertainment, also isn’t fully sold on "Barbenheimer" 2.0.

"It’s good when studios release big titles simultaneously," Nunan told CNN this summer. "I do think that they feed off of each other – that level of excitement. I think all of those things work in both of these films’ favor. I just don’t think it’s going to be the lightning in a bottle that 'Barbenheimer' was."