“Wicked: For Good” provided the monthslong box office drought with some much-needed relief over the weekend — raking in more than $147 million in domestic ticket sales and $223 million worldwide.
The second act in the “Wicked” film adaptation outperformed the $112.5 million domestic debut of the original “Wicked,” which premiered pre-Thanksgiving weekend last year. “For Good” also stole the crown for the biggest opening weekend for a Broadway adaptation, previously worn by its predecessor.
Opening ticket sales for “Wicked: For Good” are the second-highest of the year, trailing only behind the breakthrough box office success “A Minecraft Movie,” which opened at more than $162 million domestically and earned nearly $424 million during its theatrical run, making it the highest-earning film of the year so far.
“For Good” enjoyed high ticket sales in spite of bleak critic reviews. The New Yorker panned the sequel as “very, very bad,” and The Washington Post called the film a “letdown.”
Still, the bulk of early audiences are enjoying the film. “Wicked: For Good” boasts a 95% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
“This is broad-appealing Hollywood filmmaking at its best,” David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, told Variety. “Strong word-of-mouth is going to drive business through the Thanksgiving Holiday and into December. This is a smash.”
“For Good” brings some long-awaited momentum to a sluggish box office streak. Domestic ticket sale revenue for October 2025 hit its lowest point in three decades (excluding 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic) — with collective earnings at $425 million, per Variety.
October titles anticipated to rake in big earnings at the box office, such as Disney’s “Tron: Ares” and Dwayne Johnson’s “The Smashing Machine,” slumped far below expectations.
The second act of “Wicked” positions the box office for even higher earnings heading into Thanksgiving weekend, which has historically been a moneymaker for movie theaters.
“This overperformance by ‘Wicked: For Good’ sets up a very strong home stretch for the industry,” Comscore’s head of marketplace trends, Paul Dergarabedian, told Variety. “‘Wicked: For Good’ will inject much-needed momentum into the marketplace, and that will continue all the way through the holidays.”
“For Good” shared its debut weekend with a slate of holiday releases — the third sequel in the magician heist franchise “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t,” Glenn Powell’s “The Running Man” and the dramedy “Rental Family.”
The box office boost is expected to continue through Thanksgiving weekend with the release of Disney’s “Zootopia 2,” which opens just ahead of the holiday.
Together, “Zootopia 2” and “Wicked: For Good” could generate a similar box office outcome to last year’s combo of “Moana 2″ and “Wicked,” which fueled historically high-grossing holiday ticket sales.
“This is really a one-two punch in terms of earning potential for the whole opening weekend picture,” said Daniel Loria, editorial director at Box Office Pro, per CNN.
That momentum will likely carry the box office through Christmas, with additional spikes from the “Avatar” threequel “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”