Box Office: 'Gladiator II' Nabs Solid $56 Million Weekend But 'Red One' Drops 59%

Ridley Scott's action sequel has earned $221 million worldwide but Dwayne Johnson's Christmas actioner took a bigger second-weekend drop than usual for a Rock tentpole.

In non-Wicked news at the weekend box office…

Paramount’s Gladiator II earned $55.5 million in its domestic opening weekend. That’s a solid 2.5x weekend multiplier from a $22 million Friday, including $6.5 million in Thursday preview showings. In terms of recent R-rated actioners, that’s behind the Deadpool trilogy ($132 million, $128 million and $211 million) and Logan ($88 million) but sits comfortably alongside the most recent Bad Boys ($62 million in 2020 and $57 million in 2024) and John Wick ($56 million in 2019 and $73 million in 2023 flicks. Granted, those films (aside from Deadpool 3) cost closer to $100 million than the reported $250 million spent on Gladiator II. While the Ridley Scott sequel runs 148 minutes, it’s A) shorter than Wicked Part One and B) shorter than John Wick: Chapter 4. But, even with mild causes for concern, a strong showing is a strong showing.