'Wicked: For Good' Smashes Records and Breathes New Life Into Box Office

Universal Pictures delivered a stunning victory to the struggling North American box office with the spectacular opening of its Thanksgiving tentpole, Wicked: For Good. The film, the second installment in the ambitious big-screen adaptation of the iconic Broadway musical, premiered to a record-smashing $147 million in North America from 4,115 theaters, according to finalized Monday actuals. This figure, though slightly lower than Sunday's preliminary $150 million estimate, demonstrates overwhelming success and audience embrace. The picture earned highly enthusiastic exit scores, securing an 'A' CinemaScore and a glowing 95 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Comscore data specifically highlighting strong engagement from children. Globally, the musical was equally formidable, earning a record-busting $76 million from 78 international markets for a staggering worldwide debut of $223 million.

Directed by Jon M. Chu, the film continues the untold story of the witches of Oz, starring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba (The Wicked Witch of the West) and Ariana Grande as Glinda (The Good Witch). The ensemble cast is further bolstered by performances from industry veterans Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Yeoh.

Wicked: For Good, driven overwhelmingly by its female audience—with nearly 70 percent of attendees identifying as female—shattered multiple opening records both domestically and abroad, underscoring the vital buying power of girls and women that the industry had recently neglected.

Domestically, the film now holds the record for the biggest opening ever for a Broadway musical adaptation, easily surpassing the previous film, Wicked, which opened to $112.5 million last year. It stands as the third-biggest opening of all time among any musical, only trailing 2019's The Lion King and 2017's Beauty and the Beast (not adjusted for inflation). Furthermore, it ranks as Universal’s third-biggest North American opening ever, behind only Jurassic World ($208.8 million) and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ($148 million). It is also the second-best pre-Thanksgiving weekend opening, just behind The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($158.1 million), and the second-highest three-day domestic launch of 2025 to date, behind A Minecraft Movie ($208.9 million).

Internationally, the film likewise surpassed the opening of its predecessor, ranking as the top launch ever for a Broadway adaptation. It secured the fifth-biggest opening of all time for any musical, following The Lion King (2019), Moana 2, Frozen 2, and Beauty and the Beast. Its overall three-day opening also surpassed Superman to become the fourth-biggest launch of the year to date, behind Jurassic World Rebirth, A Minecraft Movie, and Lilo & Stitch.

The United Kingdom proved to be the strongest overseas market, contributing a record-busting $24.4 million. This figure marks the best November opening in the U.K. ever, the biggest start for a Broadway adaptation, and the best opening of the year to date in that territory (not adjusted for inflation). The large-format Imax screens contributed significantly, pulling in $21.1 million globally, including $15.5 million domestically, ranking as the biggest Imax start ever for a November family-friendly title.

This performance is a critical turning point for the North American box office, which had recently suffered its worst fall in decades due to an overabundance of male-skewing features and a dearth of family and female-focused content. The successful realization of this sequel validates the tenacity of NBCUniversal entertainment chief and longtime movie studio head Donna Langley, who remained committed to adapting the challenging Broadway musical genre even after the industry flop of Cats.

In other market activity, Searchlight Pictures debuted the Brendon Fraser-led specialty dramedy Rental Family nationwide in 1,925 theaters. The film, which earned strong critical and audience reception, grossed an estimated $3.3 million to finish in fifth place, becoming the latest adult-skewing drama to face commercial difficulty. However, Searchlight is counting on its favorable word-of-mouth and the lucrative holiday corridor to provide sustained box office life. Competition in the holiday market will intensify significantly with the impending Wednesday release of Zootopia 2.

Among holdovers, Lionsgate’s Now You See Me: Now You Don’t held well in its sophomore weekend, finishing second with an estimated $9.1 million from 3,403 locations. This pushes its domestic total to $36.8 million and its global cumulative gross to $146.2 million.

Disney and 20th Century’s Predator: Badlands demonstrated a rebound, claiming third place with $6.3 million from 3,100 locations, increasing its three-week domestic total to $76.3 million. Overseas, the film added $7.6 million for a foreign tally of $83.3 million, establishing a franchise-best worldwide cume of $159.6 million (not adjusted for inflation).

In contrast, Paramount’s troubled The Running Man, directed by Edgar Wright and starring Glen Powell, saw a steep 65 percent tumble in its second outing, finishing fourth with $5.8 million from 3,534 theaters for a ten-day domestic total of $27 million. The film added $7.1 million overseas, bringing its foreign total to $21.3 million and a global total of $48.3 million.