Wicked: For Good has enough momentum to overtake a popular Pirates of the Caribbean movie at the box office. The fantasy epic based on the Broadway-winning play finally concluded the story of Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande), with the second half catching up to the events of The Wizard of Oz. Wicked: For Good had a stellar box office debut, setting a record for the best opening weekend for a Broadway adaptation and the second-biggest debut for a 2025 movie, just behind A Minecraft Movie. Now that it’s hitting its fourth weekend in theaters, Wicked: For Good is projected to make an additional $8.3 million, raising its domestic total to $311. 8 million. With that, the fantasy sequel has already overtaken Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which domestically made $305.4 million. As of right now, Wicked: For Good is the 11th highest-grossing fantasy movie at the domestic box office, and the chances are looking good to unlock the top 10. The movie would need to edge out Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, which made $317.8 million, and it seems that this wouldn’t be too tough to accomplish in the coming weeks.

A still from Wicked: For Good featuring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.MovieStillsDB

Despite the initial box office success of Wicked: For Good, the momentum has slowed down significantly since its release in mid-November. The sequel dealt with major drops, including a 58% dip during its second weekend and a drastic 71.9% drop during its third weekend. There are several factors that have led the movie’s box office to slow down in the way that it has. Firstly, the adaptation has faced competition with releases, including Zootopia 2 and Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. In particular, the Disney sequel quickly became one of the biggest hits this year and just recently hit the $1 billion mark. Furthermore, the lukewarm reception for Wicked: For Good likely played a role in waning interest among audiences. While the first movie wowed moviegoers and became a sensation, the same can’t be said for the closing act. Whereas the first movie earned an incredible 88% Rotten Tomatoes score, the sequel suffered a slump with a 68% score. Even though the audience score remains strong at 93%, it seems that the movie has lost traction since its release. Given the rate of the weekly drops, it doesn’t appear that For Good will be able to replicate the same commercial success as 2024’s Wicked, which made $474 million domestically and $757 million globally. The first movie itself is the second-highest-grossing fantasy movie. Wicked: For Good’s box office will continue to slow down in the coming weeks, with the release of Avatar: Fire & Ash and The Housemaid. On the other hand, the sequel based on the Broadway play is still seeing potential for award consideration, with Erivo and Grande having recently earned Golden Globe nominations for their performances. Although the movie earned a total of four nominations, it did miss out on Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Both Wicked movies were directed by Jon M. Chu. The sequel also saw the returns of Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Michelle Yu, Jeff Goldblum, and Marissa Bode. Wicked: For Good is playing in theaters.

Release Date

November 21, 2025

Runtime

137 Minutes

Director

Jon M. Chu

Writers

Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox, Gregory Maguire

Producers

Marc Platt, David Stone