“Wicked: For Good” didn’t need magic to shatter box office records.
The highly anticipated sequel to the first “Wicked” is now the No. 1 film at the domestic box office, hauling in an estimated $150 million domestically and $226 million worldwide this weekend.
The film had the biggest-ever opening weekend for a Broadway adaptation, beating out its predecessor, which opened to $112.5 million almost exactly a year ago. It also achieved the second-highest opening weekend of the year, just behind “A Minecraft Movie,” which raked in $163 million when it debuted in April.
Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at box office data company Comscore, said he was impressed that “Wicked: For Good” outpaced “Wicked” at the box office, noting there’s never a guarantee that sequels of popular movies will perform to expectations.
“That doesn’t always happen,” he said. “It’s a testament to how much audiences around the world love ‘Wicked,’ these stars and just the way these movies are presented on the big screen.”
Dergarabedian attributed much of the film’s success to the marketing push from Universal Pictures — including a range of product partnerships, themed experiences and viral press moments from Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo — that have turned Universal Pictures’ “Wicked” franchise into a cultural event.
(NBC News and Universal Pictures share Comcast as a parent company.)
Movie theaters this weekend were decked out in pink-and-green popcorn tins and drink cups, with some even offering “Wicked”-themed photo-ops for viewers. Online, fans shared videos of themselves dressed in Elphaba- or Glinda-inspired outfits as they headed to the theaters.
The second installment of the two-part film series takes on slightly darker tones than the fluffier first movie, exploring Elphaba’s exile as the Wicked Witch of the West while Glinda, now living a glamorous life as the Good Witch, wrestles with complicated feelings about their friendship.
“Wicked: For Good” opened to a 95% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as an A on Cinemascore. Dergarabedian said he expects the film, which debuted right ahead of Thanksgiving weekend, to have long-term playability going into the holidays.
“This isn’t just a one-weekend wonder,” Dergarabedian said. “This is a film that’s perfectly tailored for audiences over the next six weeks, heading all the way to New Year’s Eve and beyond.”
He predicts the film will help fuel one of the biggest-ever Thanksgiving weeks for movie theaters, along with the upcoming Wednesday release of “Zootopia 2.”
After a quiet October, he said, “Wicked: For Good” is kicking off the momentum for a slew of potential end-of-year box office hits, including “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” on Dec. 5, as well as “Avatar: Fire and Ash” and “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants” on Dec. 19.
