The much-anticipated movie Wicked: For Good stunned with a domestic Friday box office of $70 million—nearly double what the first Wicked made on its first Friday, and setting up a potential behemoth opening weekend for the sequel film.
Why It Matters
The film brings back its star-studded cast with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande co-leading as Elphaba, the titular "Wicked" Witch of the West and Glinda the Good, respectively. The cast also includes Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, and powerhouse actors Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard of Oz and Michelle Yeoh as his ally Madame Morrible.
The film covers the second half of the popular musical, taking place after Elphaba made her escape and now remains on the run in Oz, branded as the Wicked Witch of the West, while Glinda has risen to fame as the beloved symbol of Goodness for the Wizard's regime.
...What To Know
Wicked: For Good, directed by Jon M. Chu, has so far received less glowing reviews compared to the first, with the Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus noting the "darker tone and unhurried pacing sometimes get in the way," but the film still boasts mostly positive reviews and a very strong word of mouth that has already seen it deliver a strong opening Friday.
By comparison, Wicked opened with a $46 million Friday, earning $112 million over the opening three-day weekend and scoring a global cumulative box office of around $164 million, marking at that time the biggest opening weekend for a Broadway adaptation.
Wicked: For Good, meanwhile, has already scored $70 million over the first Friday, inclusive of Thursday preview screenings, which has set the film for a $151 million domestic opening and a global cumulative box office of $228 million, according to various entertainment outlets.
Even if the film ultimately falls a little short of the projections, it will still rake in enough money to mark the biggest opening weekend for a Broadway adaptation and the third-biggest opening for a musical movie ever, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
...Wicked ultimately earned $750 million worldwide, ranking it as the 10th-highest grossing musical film of all time, and the highest for any Broadway adaptation. Only the Disney live-action remakes of The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and The Jungle Book, as well as the musical biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, rank ahead of it for live-action films, while Frozen, Frozen 2, Moana 2, and the original animated Aladdin and The Lion King rank above it otherwise.
The live-action remake of The Lion King is the current highest-grossing musical film of all time with a roughly $1.65 billion global box office. The top six musical films all broke $1 billion, which Wicked: For Good is on pace to do based on its staggering opening weekend projections, but the proof is in the legs that the film has over the following weeks.
However, if history is anything to go by, the sequel could follow in the original's footsteps and see a strong second weekend. Wicked followed its $112 million opening weekend with a $118 million second weekend that occurred during the Thanksgiving holiday season, much as Wicked: For Good will do as well. If it holds for a similar second week, Wicked: For Good would already be halfway towards breaking that billion-dollar threshold.
...When Is 'Wicked: For Good' Available on Streaming Platforms?
Fans of Wicked will likely have to wait 3 months to watch the new movie on Peacock as the standard timeline is 90 days after the release.
However, because the first Wicked was delayed longer, at 119 days, before it went to Peacock, fans might have to wait even longer. That gives it a likely timeline of February.
It remains unclear when the streaming option will be for free, with the original Wicked available on preorder in December 2024 a month after its release before hitting Peacock in March.
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