Universal’s “Wicked: For Good” has become the box office bonanza that was promised, earning $38.5 million from 4,115 locations on Friday on top of a 2025 best $30.1 million from advance screenings to put it en route for a $151.5 million opening weekend.
That is the second highest opening weekend this year behind only the $162.7 million launch of “A Minecraft Movie” back in April and is second only to the $206 million opening of “Jurassic World” in 2015 on Universal’s all-time opening weekend list.
And of course, it passes the $112.5 million opening of the first “Wicked” last year to become the biggest opening weekend ever for a Broadway adaptation. Overseas, “For Good” is projected to earn $76.5 million, 15% ahead of the first “Wicked,” for a global launch of $228 million.
Just like with the first “Wicked” — and perhaps even more so in some theaters — fans flocked on opening night in green and pink outfits to see Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande once again play Elphaba and Glinda. Social media has been filled with excitement over the duo’s performance of songs like “No Good Deed” and the titular “For Good.”
And those fans have given glowing praise to “For Good” with a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 96% and a PostTrak positive score of 92%. The film has also received an A on CinemaScore, just like the first “Wicked.”
Given that the opening installment held on well through Thanksgiving weekend despite the holiday record 5-day opening of “Moana 2,” “Wicked: For Good” should hold on well against Disney’s “Zootopia 2,” which is tracking for a $150 million-plus 5-day opening.
Then it is on to a December where a more competitive slate than the one “Wicked” faced last year will challenge “For Good” in its attempt to leg out, most notably with “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” which will try to make James Cameron’s saga only the second franchise besides Marvel’s “Avengers” with three films that have earned $2 billion worldwide.
The one dim spot for this weekend is that despite the strong opening for “Wicked: For Good,” overall grosses are projected to be down 8% from last year. That’s because while theaters had holdover support from Paramount’s “Gladiator II” in 2024, there are no films this weekend currently projected to earn more than $10 million aside from “For Good,” the closest being Lionsgate’s “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” with a $9.6 million second weekend.
Much farther down the charts, Searchlight’s dramedy “Rental Family” starring Brendan Fraser is projected for a $3.2 million opening from 1,925 locations, while Sony/Stage 6’s “Sisu: Road to Revenge” is doing worse with a $2.6 million opening from 2,222 locations.
