Wicked has passed a major domestic milestone after more than a month in theaters. The 2024 movie, which was directed by Jon M. Chu, is adapted from the first act of the Wizard of Oz prequel stage musical of the same name and follows the friendship between Glinda (Ariana Grande-Butera) and Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), the future Wicked Witch of the West. The Wicked release kicked off the weekend before U.S. Thanksgiving, with its gross quickly rising to make it the highest-grossing Broadway musical adaptation of all time, surpassing Grease in North America and Mamma Mia! worldwide.
Per Deadline, as of Saturday morning, Wicked is projected to earn a 3-day domestic box office total of $10.2 million by the end of its seventh weekend. This will bring its cumulative domestic total to $450.7 million, making it the third movie of 2024 to pass the $450 million domestic milestone, behind Deadpool & Wolverine and Inside Out 2. It is also the 29th movie to ever pass that domestic box office milestone in history. This is the case even though the movie is already available for purchase and rental on at-home digital platforms as of December 31, 2024.
What This Means For Wicked

The Movie Is A Smash Hit

The Wicked box office has been dazzling, as it has already earned back the $300 million budget of both movies combined, in North America alone. Movies typically need to earn back two and a half times their budgets in order to break even in theaters, so this total has also exceeded the 2024 movie’s likely break-even point of roughly $375 million. The 2025 movie Wicked: For Good, which adapts the second act of the musical, will only have to earn roughly $300 million in order for the pair of movies to break even off of just their domestic grosses.

[The Wicked musical] was primarily an American phenomenon…

However, the majority of the movie’s theatrical grosses are coming from the domestic market. At the time of writing, the movie has earned roughly $211 million in international markets, which is less than half of what it has earned in domestic theaters. This is likely the case because, even though the Wicked musical toured worldwide, it was primarily an American phenomenon, and thus the movie is playing on nostalgia that does not exist in every market. However, audience enthusiasm in North America has nevertheless allowed it to become a smash hit worldwide thanks to its ever-growing at-home gross.
Our Take On The Wicked Milestone

The 2025 Sequel Could Gross Even Higher

The outstanding performance of Wicked is likely also good news for the upcoming Wicked: For Good. Not only is the 2025 movie now a sequel to one of the biggest domestic hits ever, it is inextricably linked to it in that the story the 2024 movie begins is not complete until the end of the second movie. While sequels to hit movies frequently perform well, For Good could use this advantage to make even more money than its predecessor, breaking even more records along the way.
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Source: Deadline

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Wicked adapts the Broadway musical into a two-part film, following the unlikely friendship between Elphaba, born with green skin, and Glinda, a popular aristocrat, in the Land of Oz. As they navigate their contrasting paths, they evolve into Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

Release Date

November 22, 2024

Runtime

160 Minutes

Cast

Cynthia Erivo
, Ariana Grande
, Michelle Yeoh
, Jeff Goldblum
, Jonathan Bailey
, Ethan Slater
, Marissa Bode
, Bowen Yang
, Bronwyn James
, Keala Settle
, Peter Dinklage
, Aaron Teoh
, Grecia De la Paz
, Colin Michael Carmichael
, Adam James
, Andy Nyman
, Courtney Mae-Briggs
, Sharon D. Clarke
, Jenna Boyd

Character(s)

Elphaba Thropp
, Glinda Upland
, Madame Morrible
, The Wizard
, Fiyero Tigelaar
, Boq
, Nessarose Thropp
, Pfannee
, ShenShen
, Miss Coddle
, Doctor Dillamond (voice)
, Avaric Tenmeadows
, Gilligan
, Professor Nikidik
, Glinda’s Father
, Governor Frexspar Thropp
, Melena Thropp
, The Midwife

Director

Jon M. Chu

Writers

Gregory Maguire
, Winnie Holzman
, Dana Fox
, L. Frank Baum

Studio(s)

Marc Platt Productions

Distributor(s)

Universal Pictures

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