Reigning Hollywood studio Universal brings 'Wicked' to movie summit

LAS VEGAS, United States — Universal Pictures was crowned Hollywood's top studio last year, dethroning Disney at the box office for the first time in nearly a decade with a string of mega-hits like "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" and the Oscar-winning "Oppenheimer."

So as movie executives gathered at this week's CinemaCon summit in the face of gloomy industry forecasts and a shortage of upcoming major releases, at least one company had plenty to celebrate in Las Vegas.

"There's not much more you could ask for than being number one at the box office, and winning the Academy Award for best picture," said chairman Donna Langley during Universal's presentation on Wednesday.

"It would have been easy enough to just sort of drop the mic after that one, right? But it's not enough for us," she said, before introducing a crop of new titles, including "Wicked."

Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, and Jeff Goldblum were brought on stage to promote the starry movie adaptation of the hit Broadway musical. The first of two films hits theaters in November.

For many big-screen owners, Universal — thanks to a diverse mix of original movies that does not rely on the struggling superhero genre, and some smart viral marketing campaigns — offers a potential roadmap to recovery.

They are pinning hopes on "Wicked," and animated films like "Despicable Me 4" and "The Wild Robot," to bring much-needed customers back at a tough moment for the industry.

Overall box office receipts had been slowly recovering each year since the pandemic, but are expected to shrink in 2024.

That is largely due to Hollywood strikes that shuttered film productions for months last year, leaving major gaps in release calendars.

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'Fresh'

But while rivals like Disney, Warner, and Paramount have struggled for various reasons, these are heady times for Universal.

Just 12 months ago, Langley brought director Christopher Nolan onto the same Las Vegas stage, to introduce for the first time his movie "Oppenheimer."

In an expensive gamble, Universal had lured Nolan from his traditional home at Warner, promising to give his movie about the atomic bomb lavish