Wicked Just Broke A Sixteen-Year-old Record

Jon M. Chu’s Wicked has scored many firsts for its kind and continues to shatter records during its ongoing theatrical run. Over the final weekend of 2024 (December 27–29), the Wizard of Oz prequel crossed yet another incredible milestone set sixteen years ago.

As the first half of Universal’s two-part cinematic live-action adaptation of the most popular Broadway musical of the same name, Wicked has been making quite the run at the box office. Starring Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Michelle Yeoh, and Jeffery Goldblum, the movie opened with $112 million in North America—a record for Broadway adaptations after besting the $31 million of the previous record holder, Into the Woods—and $162 million globally. A second part, Wicked: For Good, will grace worldwide screens on November 21, 2025.

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Wicked Unseats Mamma Mia! As the Biggest Stage Musical Adaptation of All Time

Analysts say a $700 million global haul Is Guaranteed

Already the highest-grossing Broadway musical of all time, data from numerous box office analysts’ sources, including Deadline, Box Office Mojo, and Luiz Fernando on X, already confirm that Wicked is now the outright biggest stage musical film adaptation in cinema history. At the close of its sixth weekend in theaters, Wicked added $19.7 million to its then-$404 million domestic cume and $13.7 million across 81 overseas markets to its $196.4 million international total for a global haul of $634 million ($424 million domestic and $210.2 million international). This brings it past the $611 million finish of Universal’s own Mamma Mia!, unseating the 2008 film as the highest-grossing musical-to-film adaptation of all time.

Wicked only holds this record when unadjusted for ticket price inflation. Adjusting for inflation changes the chart dramatically and Rodgers’ and Hammerstein’s 1965 classic, The Sound of Music, tops the list with $1.3 billion in 2024 dollars—up from the 1965 gross of $159.4 million. Nonetheless, Wicked’s incredible legs might be more impressive than its latest records: the $19.7 million sixth domestic weekend gross represents a 39.6% jump from last weekend’s $14.1 million. Not only is this a solid holdout, it ranks as the fifth-biggest sixth weekend (strictly three-day) in US box office history, above Frozen’s $19.5 million and Black Panther’s $17.1 million and just $350,000 under the $20.1 million of Avatar: The Way of Water.

Bolstered by solid word-of-mouth and an 88% Rotten Tomatoes score, Wicked has held out well against stiff competition such as Mufasa: The Lion King and Sonic the Hedgehog 3’s battle for box office supremacy in the holiday season. Sadly, Universal has decided to cut Wicked’s long legs short by making it available to download on digital platforms in the US from December 31, 2024. While overseas markets would be unaffected, the domestic market accounts for more than two-thirds of its total audience (it is still showing in 3,177 of the initial 3,888 North American theaters); thus a digital-wide release could affect audience retention in the cinemas, and in turn, ticket sales. However, the wind is still in Wicked’s sails. The consensus among analysts is that a $700 million global bow for the musical is guaranteed, and with a Japanese-wide release slated for March 7, it could move into $750 million territory—not bad for a movie with a reported $150 million production budget.

Wicked was released on November 22 and still shows in theaters worldwide, but is available for digital download in the United States as of December 31.

Source: Deadline, Box Office Mojo, Luiz Fernando/X

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