Universal Pictures' “Evil” game in two parts continues to defy gravity at the box office. Just a year after the first part attracted crowds of spectators into cinemas across the country, even more people bought tickets for the opening weekend to see the epic finale. “Wicked: For Good.” The studio estimated Sunday that “Wicked: For Good” earned $150 million at North American theaters in its first days in theaters and $226 million worldwide.
This is not only the biggest discovery in history Broadway musical adaptation that broke the record set by the first film's $112 million launch, as well as the second-biggest debut of the year behind “Movie about Minecraft” $162 million.
“The results are fantastic,” said Jim Orr, who heads local distribution for Universal. “Some films may have false positives when tickets go on sale early, but these results speak for themselves.”
Universal began showing 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). As of Friday, it had played in 4,115 North American locations and earned $68.6 million. IMAX screenings accounted for $15.5 million, or 11%, of total domestic sales, a November record for the company.
IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond said in a statement that the strong market share shows that “our momentum extends to demos and genres beyond our traditional core, including family.”
As with the first film, women made up about 71% of ticket buyers during its opening weekend, according to PostTrak exit polls. Critics were somewhat mixed about the latest chapter, but viewers were not: the vast majority of viewers (83%) said they would “definitely recommend” it to friends. In terms of attendance, EntTelligence estimates that Wicked: For Good drew approximately 2 million more people for its opening weekend than Wicked's.
Jon M. Chu directed both “Wicked” films starring Cynthia Ervio and Ariana Grande. The first film grossed over $758.7 million worldwide and received 10 Oscar nominations (two wins, in costume design and production ). The question is how high Wicked: For Good can fly. Combined, the two films cost approximately $300 million to produce, not including marketing and promotion costs.
“The first movie paved the way,” Orr said. “It has truly become a cultural event and I think audiences will continue to flock to theaters for quite some time.”
Two other films also opened in wide release this weekend, but ended up lower on the charts behind piles of leftovers. Searchlight Pictures presents a film about Brendan Fraser “Family rental” in 1,925 theaters, where it earned $3.3 million. Finnish action film “Sisu: Road of Revenge”, released by Sony, was also shown in 2,222 cinemas. He earned approximately $2.6 million.
Second place went to “Now you see me, and now you don't” with $9.1 million in its second weekend, followed by Predator: Badlands with $6.3 million in its third weekend. “Running Man” followed in fourth place with $5.8 million, which is 65% less than his debut last weekend.
While this weekend's box office performance was a winner across all scenarios, the success of “Wicked: For Good” is vital for the exhibition industry as a whole as it enters the final weeks of the year.
“This will be a very strong finish to the year,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of market trends at Comscore.
After a slow fall season, Thanksgiving blockbusters couldn't come soon enough. “Zootopia 2” hits theaters early next week and is also expected to draw large crowds to theaters during the holiday break.
According to Dergarabedian, Thanksgiving is often one of the biggest movie moments of the year, and both Wicked 2 and Zootopia 2 will benefit from that. Last year, Wicked, Moana 2 and Gladiator 2 helped set a record five-day frame.
Current domestic box office revenue currently hovers around $7.5 billion, according to Comscore. Before the pandemic, annual box office revenue regularly reached $11 billion, but since the pandemic the goal has dropped to $9 billion. The big question now is whether games like Wicked: For Good, Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash can push the industry past that threshold.
