When Wicked and Gladiator II debuted together late last month, there was a painful attempt to call their shared box office success Glicked, a play on the cultural phenomenon 'Barbenheimer' from summer 2023.
The Barbenheimer phenomenon was an old-fashioned Hollywood success story: two unique, vivid, and original stories that sparked cultural relevance and interpretive debate.
Wicked and the Gladiator sequel represent Hollywood's trend of relying on safe bets through famous brands and franchises, lacking the creativity once seen in cinema.
I’m worried about pop culture, questioning if the relationship between art and commerce is functioning, as evident in the mediocrity of recent blockbuster films.
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