Moviegoers looked to the western sky this weekend in record numbers, as “Wicked” defied expectations by earning a whopping $114 million at the U.S. box office. That’s the best opening weekend ever for a film adaptation of a Broadway musical,

Following a sluggish year at the box office, “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” opened this weekend with combined earnings of $270 million internationally, providing the box office with much-needed rejuvenation as the busiest moviegoing weekend of the year, per Box Office Mojo.

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