Since the pandemic, NBC Universal and Univeral Pictures have had a unique strategy with theater owners. Essentially, if a movie opens to $50 million in the U.S. or more, the studio will keep it singularly in theaters for 45 days. After that point, it can be released on PVOD (digital download or rental services) and theater owners can decide whether to keep it on their screens based on performance. If under $50 million, it often goes to PVOD in three weeks. Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked” debuted to a massive $112 million the weekend of Nov. 22. 49 days later, it dropped digitally, and the results were historic.
Universal has revealed that “Wicked” earned $70 million in its first week of digital revenue in the U.S. It earned $26 million alone on its first day, thanks to pre-sales. That’s the biggest one-week in digital sales for a Universal release to date surpassing “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” which earned $44 million in 2023. The movie musical is available at $30 to own and $20 to rent.
Moreover, in that same period, “Wicked” still earned another $10 million in U.S. theatrical revenue for a running total of $453 million domestic and $683 million global. With a Best Picture nomination and a slew of other Oscar noms expected, the first part of the “Wicked” saga should still generate substantial revenue in theaters for at least another month or more.
“Wicked” will not debut on the company’s streaming service, Peacock, until at least the end of February or early March.
The second part of the “Wicked” adaptation, “Wicked For Good,” arrives in theaters on November 21.
