Gladiator II and Wicked dubbed new Barbenheimer

by · Mail Online

They're set to be the two biggest blockbusters of the year, and will be released in movie theaters simultaneously, but film fans are fighting over what the joint nickname for Wicked and Gladiator II should be.

Dubbed the new Barbenheimer, after Barbie and Oppenheimer went head-to-head at the box office in the summer of 2023, the upcoming films will both hit the big screen on November 22.

And with less than two weeks to go, fans have taken to social media to suggest a new name for the two movies combined - and even Wicked stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have weighed in on the debate.

In a new interview with Entertainment Tonight, Ariana, 31, and Cynthia, 37, both confirmed that they support the nickname 'Glicked' as the latter said: 'We are okay with that, it's Glicked day, we like that day.'

Popstar Ariana then said: 'Better than what I was hearing... someone said Gladicked!' as Cynthia blurted out: 'No!' and the singer added: '[I was like] what the hell is that?'

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo star in the upcoming movie adaptation of Wicked
Gladiator II starring Paul Mescal will be released in movie theaters the same day as Wicked, with fans nicknaming the two films 'Glicked'

'Why do you need to complicate things like that?' Cynthia then asked, as Ariana joked: 'Who put the d**k in it? I don't understand...' as her costar burst out laughing whilst clutching her hand. 

'Why do we need to add extra syllables now? Can we keep it PG?' Cynthia said as Ariana mentioned her brother and revealed: 'I think Frankie told me that.'

'No, no, that's not okay. Glicked is fine, Glicked is what it is and that's what we should be doing,' Cynthia replied, before adding: 'I know that's what I'm gonna be doing that day.'

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But that still hasn't stopped fans from suggesting other nicknames on social media, and some even shared fan-made art on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In one image, which featured Ariana's character Galinda Upland and Cynthia's Elphaba Thropp, one user had Photoshopped Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal's characters from Gladiator II and captioned it: 'What will it be... Wickediator? Gladicked? Glicked?' 

Another X user posted a mocked image of Cynthia and Paul's characters posing on a ship, in a nod to the movie Titanic, and wrote alongside it: 'Combined opening of more than $150M easy. #GladiadorII #WickedMovie #Glicked.'

Other nicknames suggested on social media included 'Gladiated' and 'Wickenator.'

According to Deadline, Jon M. Chu's Wicked and Ridley Scott's Gladiator II are set to pull in huge takings on their opening weekends with the former expected to pull in over $80 million and the latter $65 million domestically.

Fans have been debating what the nickname should be and also sharing their artistic creations on X
One fan claimed that the two movies being released on November 22 will pull in more than $150 combined on their opening weekend
Barbenheimer was born last summer when Barbie and Oppenheimer were both released in theaters on the same day

Wicked is also expected to popular with women while Gladiator II is set to pull in men and also older women.

When asked about the potential Glicked nickname recently, Paul - who plays Lucius Verus in the upcoming film - told The Hollywood Reporter: 'I don't wanna jinx anything. How amazing would that be for this industry?

'I think that was such a massive moment for the industry last year and if we can replicate anything next to near that, it could be huge,' he added, referring to Barbenheimer.