‘Wicked: For Good’ opens with $150 million to lead box office

LOS ANGELES – “Wicked: For Good” is drawing huge crows to movie theaters this weekend as expected, opening with $150 million to easily lead all films in North America, according to industry estimates released Sunday.

The second part of director Jon M. Chu’s two-part adaptation of the long-running Broadway smash scored the second-best opening weekend of 2025 behind “A Minecraft Movie,” which grossed more than $200 million when it opened on April 4.

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Cynthia Erivo, from left, director Jon M. Chu and Ariana Grande pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film “Wicked For Good” in London, Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

“Wicked: For Good” also broke the record for biggest opening of a Broadway film adaptation, surpassing its predecessor, “Wicked,” which opened to $112 million in 2024.

In a distant second place was “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t,” which grossed $9.1 million one week after opening in first place, Comscore reported.

“Predator: Badlands” claimed third place with $6.2 million Friday through Sunday in its third week in theaters.

“The Running Man” continued its disappointing run in theaters by falling to fourth place in just its second weekend, grossing $5.8 million.

The comedic drama “Rental Family,” starring Brendan Fraser, opened in fifth place with $3.3 million.

Rounding out the top 10 domestic releases were “Sisu: Road to Revenge” ($2.6 million), “Regretting You” ($1.5 million), “Nuremberg” ($1.2 million), “Black Phone 2” ($1 million) and “Sarah’s Oil” ($771,542).

This weekend’s overall three-day box office haul was estimated at $185.5 million. The year-to-date total is $7.492 billion — up 3.3% from the figure at this time last year, according to Comscore.

Universal Pictures’ two-part “Wicked” gamble continues to defy gravity at the box office. Just a year after part one brought droves of audiences to movie theaters around the country, even more people bought opening weekend tickets to see the epic conclusion, “Wicked: For Good.”

‘Wicked: For Good’ opens with $226 million globally

According to studio estimates on Sunday, “Wicked: For Good” earned $150 million from North American theaters in its first days in theaters and $226 million globally.

Not only is it the biggest opening ever for a Broadway musical adaptation, unseating the record set by the first film’s $112 million launch, it’s also the second biggest debut of the year behind “A Minecraft Movie’s” $162 million.

“The results are just fantastic,” said Jim Orr, who heads domestic distribution for Universal. “Some films can deliver a false positive when tickets go on sale early but these results speak for themselves.”

Universal began rolling out “Wicked: For Good” in theaters earlier this week, with previews on Monday ($6.1 million from 1,050 theaters) and Wednesday ($6.5 million from 2,300 theaters). By Friday it was playing in 4,115 North American locations and had raked in $68.6 million. IMAX showings accounted for $15.5 million, or 11%, of its domestic haul — a November record for the company.

IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond said in a statement that the strong market share shows, “our momentum carries into demos and genres beyond our traditional core, including families.”

Jon M. Chu directed both “Wicked” films, starring Cynthia Ervio and Ariana Grande. The first film made over $758.7 million worldwide and received 10 Oscar nominations (winning two, for costume and production design ). The question is how high “Wicked: For Good” can soar.

Combined, the two films cost around $300 million to produce, not including marketing and promotion costs.

“The first film paved the way,” Orr said. “It’s really become a cultural event I think audiences are going to be flocking to theaters for quite some time to come.” (With CNS and AP reports)

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