Universal Pictures’ ambitious gamble on green witches and Broadway magic is paying off spectacularly this weekend, as Wicked: For Good soars toward a stunning $151 million domestic opening and $228 million globally, positioning itself to shatter multiple box office records.
The Jon M. Chu-directed sequel dominated Friday’s box office with a commanding $68.7 million haul from 4,115 theaters—a figure that includes $30.8 million in Thursday previews. The performance signals not just a hit but a cultural phenomenon, with audiences awarding the film a coveted A CinemaScore and an exceptional 96 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Starring Ariana Grande as the effervescent Glinda the Good Witch and Cynthia Erivo as the misunderstood Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, For Good continues Chu’s two-part adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical that reimagines the classic Wizard of Oz tale from the witches’ perspective.
Should the film reach its projected targets, it will eclipse an impressive array of milestones. Domestically, For Good is poised to claim the crown for the largest opening ever for a Broadway musical adaptation, surpassing last year’s first Wicked installment, which debuted to $112.5 million. Among all musicals, it would secure the third-biggest opening of all time, trailing only 2019’s The Lion King and 2017’s Beauty and the Beast.
The film would also mark the second-largest North American opening in Universal’s storied history, behind only 2015’s Jurassic World ($208.8 million). Additionally, it stands to become the second-best pre-Thanksgiving weekend launch ever, following 2013’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and the second-biggest opening of 2025, behind only A Minecraft Movie ($208.9 million).
The international performance is equally impressive. Globally, Chu’s sequel will dethrone its predecessor to become the top worldwide launch for a Broadway adaptation, while ranking as the fifth-biggest opening of all time among musicals, behind The Lion King (2019), Moana 2, Frozen 2, and Beauty and the Beast. For the year, it’s tracking to become the fourth-largest opening, surpassing the recent Superman reboot.
The film’s spectacular performance arrives at a critical juncture for the North American box office, which has endured one of its worst falls in decades. Industry analysts point to an oversaturation of male-targeted action films and a concerning drought of content appealing to female and family audiences as primary culprits for the downturn.
Wicked: For Good offers a resounding rebuttal to any doubts about the commercial viability of female-driven entertainment. Nearly 70 percent of Friday’s audience consisted of women and girls—a demographic Hollywood too often overlooks—demonstrating the significant purchasing power and enthusiasm of female moviegoers when presented with compelling content.
The success represents a major vindication for NBCUniversal entertainment chief Donna Langley, who has championed Broadway adaptations despite the genre’s historically mixed results. Her conviction remained unshaken even after the catastrophic failure of 2019’s Cats, which became a cautionary tale for the industry.
Last year’s first Wicked film already made history with a nearly $750 million global haul, establishing a new benchmark for Broadway-to-screen adaptations. With For Good now tracking to potentially exceed that performance, Langley’s strategy appears to have cracked Hollywood’s longstanding struggle with musical theater adaptations.
As audiences pack theaters this holiday weekend, the message from the Emerald City is clear: when Hollywood invests in quality female-led storytelling with broad appeal, the magic happens—both on screen and at the box office.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Wicked: For Good‘s record-breaking $151 million domestic opening decisively proves what Hollywood often forgets: female-driven films are box office powerhouses.
With nearly 70% of its audience being women and girls, the sequel’s triumph arrives as a crucial lifeline for a struggling fall box office dominated by male-targeted content.
The film shatters the record for Broadway adaptations and vindicates Universal’s bet on stories that prioritize female audiences—delivering a clear message that investing in quality entertainment for women isn’t just good storytelling, it’s smart business. When Hollywood builds it for them, they will come.
