The musical fantasy, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as witches Galinda and Elphaba, is based on the Broadway musical “Wicked,” which was loosely adapted from the novel “Wicked, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister.” It purports to tell the “real” story of what happened in Oz before Dorothy arrived.

Barbenheimer” was a phenomenon impossible to manufacture. But that hasn’t stopped people from trying to recreate it. This weekend “Wicked” opens against “Gladiator II.”