Battling a 27 percent decline in domestic ticket sales compared with before the pandemic, studios left no marketing drum unthumped in releasing the movies.

Wicked” is pocketing lots of green, with the Universal release coming in on the upper side of projections to head toward the third-biggest domestic opening of the year. Now forecasting a $117 million sum for the weekend,

Wicked” and “Gladiator II” both drew less in Thursday previews than their “Barbenheimer” counterparts, but are still expected to help the fall box office.