Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo star in Universal's “Wicked: For Good.”
Universal
universal “Wicked: For Good” defied gravity at the box office, grossing an estimated $150 million from domestic ticket sales.
It marks the second-highest opening weekend for a film released in 2025, just behind Warner Bros.' “A Minecraft Movie,” which grossed $163 million in April. It also surpasses last year's debut of “Wicked,” which grossed $112.5 million in the U.S. and Canada.
The film's haul sets the record for the biggest opening weekend for a Broadway adaptation. With additional ticket sales in international markets, “Wicked: For Good” will reach a global gross of $226 million during its first three days in theaters.
An estimated 10 million tickets were sold for “Wicked: For Good” during its opening weekend, surpassing the 8 million sold during the premiere of “Wicked” last year, according to data from EntTelligence.
The box office data company also reported that 30% of domestic screenings were in premium large-format theaters, compared to 18% for “Wicked.” These tickets are more expensive than general admission and can help boost blockbuster releases. EntTelligence noted that general tickets for “Wicked: For Good” averaged about $15.25 each, while premium screen tickets averaged $18.75 a piece.
“The Universal team did a fantastic job of perfectly following the success of the original film a year ago and turning it into an even bigger debut for this second installment,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of market trends at Comscore. “'Wicked: For Good' will look forward to incredibly strong gameplay throughout Thanksgiving week and beyond during the all-important holiday movie season.”
Last year, the combination of “Wicked,” paramount “Gladiator II” and disney “Moana 2” helped propel the Thanksgiving Day box office to its highest grossing ever. This year, “Wicked: For Good” is joined by Disney’s “Zootopia 2.”
The first “Zootopia” premiered in 2016 with $75 million domestically, but went on to gross more than $1 billion worldwide. Pent-up audience demand could push the film's three-day opening to around $100 million and the five-day Thanksgiving period to more than $125 million.
“The impressive expected performance of 'Wicked: For Good,' combined with the other films on the market, could give last year's record-breaking Thanksgiving literally a run for its money,” Dergarabedian said. “This is great news after all the negative stories about the challenging October box office drove the narrative.”
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would become the new parent company of CNBC following Comcast's planned spinoff of Versant.
