‘Wicked: For Good’ Kicks Off 2025 Box Office Grand Finale With $151.5 Million Opening

Universal’s “Wicked: For Good” became the box office bonanza that was promised, earning $38.5 million at 4,115 locations Friday, on top of 2025’s $30.1 million from early showings to put it on course for a $151.5 million opening weekend.

It’s the second-highest opening weekend this year behind “A Minecraft Movie”‘s $162.7 million opening in April and just behind 2015’s $206 million opening of “Jurassic World” on Universal’s all-time opening list.

And sure enough, it surpasses 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 expected to gross $76.5 million, 15 percent ahead of the first “Wicked,” for a worldwide debut of $228 million.

Just like the first “Wicked” — and perhaps even more so in some theaters — fans flocked to opening night in green and pink outfits to see Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande play Elphaba and Glinda once again. Social media was filled with excitement following the duo’s performance of songs like “No Good Deed” and the title track “For Good.”

And those fans praised “For Good” with a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 96% and a PostTrak positive score of 92%. The film also received an A on CinemaScore, as did the first “Wicked.”

Given that the opening movie held up until Thanksgiving weekend despite “Moana 2″‘s record 5-day opening, “Wicked: For Good” should hold up well against Disney’s “Zootopia 2,” which is aiming for a $150 million-plus 5-day opening.

Then it’s time for a month of December where a more competitive list than that of “Wicked” faced last year will challenge “For Good” in its attempt to stand out, notably with “Avatar: Fire and Ash”, which will try to make James Cameron’s saga only the second franchise after Marvel’s “Avengers” with three films which grossed $2 billion worldwide.

The only dark spot from this weekend is that despite “Wicked: For Good’s” strong opening, overall revenue is expected to be down 8% from last year. Indeed, even if theaters were supported by Paramount’s “Gladiator II” in 2024, no movie this weekend is currently expected to gross more than $10 million except for “For Good,” the closest being Lionsgate’s “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” with a second weekend of $9.6 million.

Much further down the charts, Searchlight’s comedy-drama “Rental Family” starring Brendan Fraser is expected to get a $3.2 million opening from 1,925 locations, while Sony/Stage 6’s “Sisu: Road to Revenge” fares worse with a $2.2 million opening from 2,222 locations.