411 Box Office Report: Wicked: For Good Sets New Records With Monster #1 Opening

It was a record-breaking weekend at the box office as Wicked: For Good blew away the competition for the #1 spot. The musical sequel opened to a $150 million start, which is right around where it was expected to do coming into the frame. That is the biggest ever opening for a movie based on a Broadway show, beating the first film’s $112.5 million opening for this weekend last year.

Wicked: For Good is also the biggest opening ever for stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, as well as director Jon M. Chu. It marks the second-biggest opening of 2025 as well. The champion is still A Minecraft Movie, which started to $165.7 million. Needless to say, it’s a massive success for Universal. Add in the $76 million overseas start and you have $226 million. For comparison, Wicked started with $51.5 million overseas.

None of that is remotely surprising, of course. Wicked was a box office phenomenon that had great box office legs, so the follow-up was expected to perform great. But there’s always a little risk. What if the movie isn’t as good, or audiences simply decide to wait? Well, nothing to worry about. While For Good is slightly less loved by critics (a 70% Rotten Tomatoes average vs. Wicked’s 88%), audiences were fully in. The RT audience score (95%) is equal to the first, as is the A CinemaScore.

The only question now is whether Wicked: For Good will have its predecessor’s legs. Wicked had a 4.22 multiple, which is a high bar for sequels. But don’t completely discount the possibility here. We’re entering the holiday season and Thanksgiving is always good for box office. For Good seems more likely to end up in the 3.0 multiple range, but even that would put the film at $450 million domestically, on par with the original. Universal is making big bucks here.

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t took an expected hit as Elphaba and Glinda took the magic away. The threequel was down 57% in its second weekend to $9.1 million. Frankly, that’s a good hold all things considered. It’s on par with the second film’s 58%. And when you consider that Now You Don’t relied heavily on the female audience who went to see Wicked, Lionsgate is happy here.

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t now has $36.8 million domestically and $146.2 million worldwide, big overseas numbers, against a $90 million budget. It’s going to be a welcome hit for Lionsgate, virtually ensuring that Now You See Me 4 will get the greenlight.

Predator: Badlands stabilized a bit in its third weekend. The sci-fi action film was down 51% to $6.3 million. That’s a pretty solid result for the film, which is now at $76.3 million domestically and $159.6 million worldwide. Disney is looking well positioned for profit on this $105 million budgeted film, which should land at around $90 million for a final domestic gross.

Things were less bright for The Running Man, which followed its soft opening with a precipitous fall. The re-adaptation of the Stephen King novella fell 65% to a mere $5.8 million. That’s roughly the same fall Badlands had in its second frame. But Badlands started way higher and even had a slightly lower budget (Running Man’s was $110 million). The movie has $27 million stateside and $48.3 million worldwide. It won’t top $45 million in the US at this point.

Two films sought to counterprogram against Wicked: For Good with mild results. The first was Rental Family, which opened to an expected $3.3 million. The Brendan Fraser-led drama comes from Searchlight and was always going to be a low theatrical play. The real money for this one is in the secondary markets.

Rental Family is in good shape to score on home video. The buzz was great with an 87% RT critic score, 96% RT audience score and A CinemaScore. But again, this is a low-key drama so it’s an easy one to wait for home video. There’s no word on the budget, but domestically it will probably finish around $10 million.

The second indie opening made the play for the action audience in Sisu: Road to Revenge. The sequel to the 2024 microbudget (relative) hit took in $2.6 million. Again, this was expected. Sisu became a fan favorite but it’s still a niche film.

Much like Rental Family, Road to Revenge will be making its money back at home viewing. Critics love it (96% on RT), audiences like it (88% RT audience rating, B CinemaScore). Those are about where the first film did. Road to Revenge added $3.3 million overseas for $5.9 million worldwide. It will close out just short of $10 million, good enough so it can hit profit on video against a $12 million budget.

Regretting You finally dipped as Wicked stole away the female demo. The romantic drama fell 59% to $1.5 million. That brings the movie to $47.3 million domestically and $87 million worldwide. It is now looking to end around $53 million and is profitable on a $30 million budget.

Sony Pictures’ Nuremberg continues to hang in there, down 53% in its third weekend to $1.1 million. The wartime drama now has $10.9 million stateside and $12.1 million worldwide. No budget numbers here, but it’s on par for around $14 million or so as a domestic total.

Black Phone 2 fell 62% in its sixth weekend with $1 million. The movie is a hit for Universal with $76.4 million in the US and $130.1 million worldwide opposite a $30 million budget. It will end just short of $80 million stateside.

Sarah’s Oil, dropped 66% in its third frame to gross $771,000. The Amazon-MGM drama is now at a perfectly respectable $10.4 million. No budget, but it should end with around $12 million.

Wicked: For Good should cede the top spot for Thanksgiving weekend as Zootopia 2 arrives. Disney’s animated sequel is aiming at around $125 million over the five-day frame. Meanwhile, A24’s romantic fantasy-comedy Eternity should open in the single digits.

Box Office Top Ten (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)

1. Wicked: For Good – $150 million ($150 million total, $226 million WW)
2. Now You See Me: Now You Don’t – $9.1 million ($36.8 million total, $146.2 million WW)
3. Predator: Badlands – $6.3 million ($76.3 million total, $159.6 million WW)
4. The Running Man – $5.8 million ($27 million total, $48.3 million WW)
5. Rental Family – $3.3 million ($3.3 million total, $3.3 million WW)
6. Sisu: Road To Revenge – $2.6 million ($2.6 million total, $5.9 million WW)
7. Regretting You – $1.5 million ($47.3 million total, $87 million WW)
8. Nuremberg – $1.4 million ($10.95 million total, $12.1 million WW)
9. Black Phone 2 – $1 million ($76.4 million total, $130.1 million WW)
10. Sarah’s Oil – $771,000 ($10.4 million total, $10.4 million WW)