Hollywood and exhibitors were looking for a big hit to kick-start the holiday movie season, and their wishes were granted this past weekend. Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked For Good” opened to a magical $150 million over the three-day box office frame in the U.S. and took in another $76 million overseas for $226 million global so far. That’s a substantial jump from the $112 million “Wicked,” then known as “Wicked: Part One,” earned a year ago domestically.
READ MORE: “Wicked: For Good” Review: This Solid Second Half Is Darker, Denser, and Delicious In Its Own Way
The Universal release set a slew of movie musical records at the box office, but, perhaps more importantly, this is the second biggest three-day opening of the year, following the then-surprising “A Minecraft Movie’s” $162 million in April.
Audiences have been enthusiastic about the second half of Elphaba and Glinda’s journey, giving it an A CinemaScore grade and 92% positive and 82% definite recommendation on posttrak post-screening polling. Critics have been more mixed on the second chapter than the first, with the film earning a 58 grade on Metacritic and 70% on Rotten Tomatoes. Fan enthusiasm is expected to keep “For Good” dominating the Thanksgiving frame even as another expected blockbuster, “Zootopia 2,” enters the fray.
The first “Wicked” took in $759 million worldwide in theaters alone, effectively making up for the reported $300-350 million it cost to make both films back-to-back. Despite a mammoth global marketing campaign, “For Good” is essentially a cash cow for the NBCUniversal division. The property is so valuable that original composer Stephen Schwartz and the novel’s author Winnie Holzman are exploring an “adjunct” new project in the “Wicked” world.
The Broadway stage adaptation earned 10 Oscar nominations, including a Best Picture nod, and took home trophies for Costume Design and Production Design.
Most films stayed away from “Wicked For Good’s” crosshairs, but Searchlight Pictures took a chance and dropped Hikari’s “Rental Family” in 1,925 theaters. It ended up earning $3.3 million for an OK $1,714 per screen. It’s a “let’s see what happens next” drop for the Brendan Fraser drama, considering its audience was “Wicked For Good’s” key demo, women over 25. The mini-major will hope that an A CinemaScore grade and positive reviews (68 on Metacritic, 87% on Rotten Tomatoes) will give it solid word of mouth as a holiday screening option over the next week or so. The movie will begin its international rollout in January and arrive in theaters in Japan in February.
The third new release was Sony Pictures’ action flick “SISU: Road to Revenge,” which earned $2.6 million in just 2,222 theaters. The Finnish action film has earned excellent reviews (76 on Metacritic, 95% on Rotten Tomatoes), but it wasn’t the alternate male-skewing “Wicked” option the studio was opening for. At a reported budget of just $12 million and $5.9 million global so far, “SISU” has a shot of breaking even for Sony overseas.
Last weekend’s no. 1 film, “Now You See Me Now You Don’t,” dropped 57% for another $9.1 million and $36 million domestic so far. With $109.4 million worldwide, it continues to do well in China, where it has grossed $32 million alone. “The Running Man” had an even steeper domestic drop, 65%, taking in $5.8 million for a domestic tally of $27 million and $48.3 million worldwide.
New films opening on Wednesday include the aforementioned “Zootopia 2” and A24’s “Eternity.” Focus Features’ “Hamnet” and Netflix’s “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” will drop in limited release, while NEON’s “The Secret Agent” will begin a one-week Oscar qualifying run.
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