The conventional wisdom that Wicked Part One’s $112 million opening destroyed (audiences don’t mind musicals, and they don’t mind the whole “part 1 of 2” thing) and whether a $55 million domestic debut is good enough for the pricy Gladiator II (which, inflation aside, is relatively high for an R-rated action movie not based on a comic book). Meanwhile, some digressions related to Moana II’s upcoming Thanksgiving release, how Bonhoeffer represents the status quo for Angel Studios and a deep-dive conversation prompted by a listener question about “What If?” box office scenarios. What if Amazing Spider-Man had bombed in 2012? What if The Interview had been even a modest hit in 2014? Could Disney have survived the theoretical failure of Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl in 2003? Lisa also explains why Tom Cruise and Adam Driver are current examples of great actors who make comparatively poor career choices.

Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe