“Wicked: For Good” is flying high at the box office.
The movie musical has collected $150 million in North America and $76 million overseas for a dazzling $226 million global tally. It’s a boon for theaters since attendance has been seriously lagging since the summer. It’s also a major win for Universal, which took a bold bet in splitting the popular stage show into two parts, both of which needed to become major blockbusters to justify the expensive gamble. “Wicked” became a four-quadrant hit with $758 million globally, setting the stage for the second film to achieve juggernaut status as well.
Jon M. Chu directed the PG-rated “Wicked: For Good,” which sees the return of Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh and Jonathan Bailey. The second half picks up as Elphaba is branded the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda has become a public figure who’s tasked with spreading good. Since the story overlaps with “The Wizard of Oz,” a number of familiar faces, including Dorothy Gale, the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion, make appearances down the Yellow Brick Road. Audiences seem to be “obsessulated” with “Wicked: For Good,” which earned the same “A” grade on CinemaScore exit polls as the first. Positive word-of-mouth will be helpful for staying power over the holiday season.
Here are all the records from opening weekend:
Global
Biggest global opening for a Broadway musical adaptation of all-time ahead of “Wicked” ($164.2 million)
Fourth-best Hollywood debut of 2025 behind Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” remake ($341 million), “Jurassic World Rebirth” ($322 million) and “A Minecraft Movie” ($313 million) and ahead of “Superman” ($220 million) and “The Fantastic Four” ($218 million)
Fifth-largest start for a musical of all-time behind 2019’s “The Lion King” remake ($433 million), “Moana 2” ($389 million), “Frozen 2” ($358.4 million) and 2017’s “Beauty and the Beast” remake ($357 million) and ahead of the “Aladdin” remake ($212 million)
Domestic
Biggest domestic debut for a stage-to-screen adaptation above 2024’s “Wicked” ($112.5 million)
Second-highest grossing opening weekend of 2025, ahead of “Lilo & Stitch” ($146 million) and behind “A Minecraft Movie” ($162 million)
Second-largest start for Universal Pictures behind only 2015’s “Jurassic World” ($208.8 million)
Second-highest debut prior to Thanksgiving after “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” ($158 million)
Third-best launch for any musical behind 2019’s “The Lion King” ($191 million) and 2017’s “Beauty and The Beast” ($174 million)
International
Biggest international for a Broadway adaptation above 2024’s “Wicked” ($50 million)