“Wicked: For Good” soars with a $68.6M opening day, tracking for a $151M weekend and marking one of 2025’s biggest debuts as it dominates premium formats.
“Wicked: For Good” has ignited the North American box office with a spectacular $68.6 million opening day, instantly becoming one of 2025’s biggest theatrical events.
Playing in 4,115 theaters across the U.S. and Canada, the musical sequel is tracking for a $151.5 million opening weekend — a result that would secure its place as the second-biggest debut of the year and the biggest opening ever for a Broadway adaptation.
The impressive Friday total includes earnings from early screenings held throughout the week. Universal opted to expand preview options, adding showings on Monday and Wednesday, along with Amazon Prime–exclusive screenings and fan double-feature events with the original “Wicked.”
Those early screenings generated an additional $12.6 million before traditional Thursday previews began. While the expanded lead-in window adds an asterisk to its record-setting Friday total, the performance still solidifies “For Good” as a major box-office force.
If weekend estimates hold, the sequel — starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande — will outperform the $112 million opening of the first “Wicked,” which premiered during the same pre-Thanksgiving period last year. It also positions the film just behind the current 2025 leaders, “A Minecraft Movie” ($162 million) and Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” remake ($146 million).
Although “For Good” technically posted the year’s biggest opening day ahead of “A Minecraft Movie” and “Superman,” the early preview strategy played a significant role in boosting its totals.
The film’s momentum is aided by near-exclusive access to IMAX and other premium large-format screens for opening weekend. Higher-priced PLF formats contributed meaningful gains, with CJ4DPLex reporting $922,000 from 4DX screenings and $1 million from ScreenX auditoriums.
Combined, those numbers represent a 70% jump from the opening-day PLF totals of the first film.
“Wicked: For Good” is also providing a long-awaited boost to theaters following months without a major blockbuster. The last movie to crack $100 million on opening weekend was “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” in July. Since then, the largest debut belonged to September’s “The Conjuring: Last Rites” at $84 million.
Despite slightly cooler reviews compared to its predecessor, early audience reception for “For Good” is strong, earning an “A” CinemaScore — matching the first film’s rating. Universal, which invested roughly $300 million across both films (excluding marketing), appears to have successfully launched another tentpole franchise entry.
Elsewhere on the charts, Lionsgate’s “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” slipped to second place with $2.6 million on Friday. It is expected to earn $9.4 million in its second weekend, a 55% drop, bringing its domestic total to about $37.1 million.
In third, Disney’s “Predator: Badlands” added $1.7 million on Friday. The sci-fi sequel is set to surpass $76.5 million domestically by Sunday, inching closer to becoming the highest-grossing theatrical release in the franchise.
Paramount’s “The Running Man” landed in fourth with $1.66 million, on track for a $6 million second weekend and a steep 63% decline. Meanwhile, Searchlight Pictures’ “Rental Family,” starring Brendan Fraser, secured fifth place with $1.2 million from 1,925 theaters and a strong “A” CinemaScore.
Sony’s “Sisu: Road to Revenge” opened just outside the top five with $1.2 million.
