‘Wicked’ casts a spell on box office with $46M opening, topping ‘Gladiator II’
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.