'Wicked: For Good' more popular than the first, soaring to a $226 million global debut despite mixed reviews

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.” 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.”

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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.”

As with the first film, women powered opening weekend, making up around 71% of ticket buyers according to PostTrak exit polls. Critics were somewhat mixed on the final chapter, but audiences weren’t: An overwhelming 83% of audiences said it was one they would “definitely recommend” to friends. As far as foot traffic is concerned, the box office tracker EntTelligence estimates that about 2 million more people came out for “Wicked: For Good’s” first weekend than for “Wicked’s.”

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.”

Two other films also opened in wide release this weekend, but further down on the charts behind a buffet of holdovers. Searchlight Pictures opened its Brendan Fraser film “Rental Family” in 1,925 theaters where it earned $3.3 million. The Finnish action film “Sisu: Road to Revenge,” a Sony release, also played in 2,222 theaters. It earned an estimated $2.6 million.

Second place went to “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” with $9.1 million in its second weekend, followed by “Predator: Badlands” with $6.3 million in weekend three. “The Running Man” followed in fourth place with $5.8 million, down 65% from its debut last weekend.

Although this weekend the box office was more of a winner takes all scenario, “Wicked: For Good’s” success is vitally important for the exhibition industry as a whole as it enters the final weeks of the year.

“It sets up a very strong final homestretch of the year,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s head of marketplace trends.

After the slow fall season, the Thanksgiving blockbusters could not arrive soon enough. Early next week, “Zootopia 2” enters the mix and is also expected to drive big crowds to the cineplex over the holiday break.

Thanksgiving is often one of the biggest moviegoing frames of the year, Dergarabedian said, and both “Wicked 2” and “Zootopia 2” will benefit. Last year “Wicked,” “Moana 2” and “Gladiator II” helped power a record five-day frame.

The running domestic box office is currently hovering around $7.5 billion, according to Comscore. Before the pandemic, the annual box office would regularly hit $11 billion, but the post-pandemic goal has lessened to $9 billion. The big question now is whether titles like “Wicked: For Good,” “Zootopia 2” and “Avatar:Fire and Ash” can push the industry over that threshold.