Wicked: For Good North America Box Office: Ariana Grande’s Musical Roars Past Projections With A Huge Opening Day

Wicked: For Good storms the North America box office as Ariana Grande’s musical delivers a massive opening day, beating major projections and setting new records.

- November 23, 2025 | 2:52 PM IST

Wicked for Good North America Box Office ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have stirred a fresh wave across the domestic box office with their new musical fantasy sequel, Wicked: For Good, and the impact is nothing short of electric. The movie dropped on Friday and immediately pulled numbers that made studio trackers blink twice. It did not just stroll into theaters; it marched in with full confidence, with a figure that made every projection look timid.

Wicked: For Good – A Fresh Take Rooted In Classic Origins

Directed by Jon M. Chu, the film turns the second act of the 2003 stage musical by Stephen Schwartz and Holzman into a vivid screen spectacle, carrying its roots back to Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel, itself a twist on L. Frank Baum’s 1900 tale The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and the iconic 1939 film. The fans walked in with high expectations, but the box office reaction suggests they walked out with something even better.

A Massive $68.6 Million Friday That Shook Projections

The film’s Friday numbers rolled in with a kind of force that made the industry take a collective breath. Wicked: For Good grossed a massive $68.6 million in the US from 4,115 theatres, landing an average of $16,690 per location, per Box Office Mojo. That number did not just pass projections but left them far behind, making the movie the highest domestic opening of the year.

Fantastic Four: First Steps ($57.2 million) had previously held that position, followed by A Minecraft Movie ($57.1 million), Superman ($56.1 million), and Lilo & Stitch ($55.9 million), but all of them have now been nudged down the ladder.

Wicked: For Good Box Office Summary

North America – $68.6 million
International – $6.2 million

Total – $74.9 million

Wicked: For Good Projected Weekend Numbers

Made on a production budget of around $150 million, the film is already gliding toward that number from domestic earnings alone. Industry trackers are placing its opening weekend between $150 million and $165 million, a range that easily tops the $112.5 million opening earned by the 2024 hit Wicked. The idea that this sequel could match or surpass its entire production cost in just three days gives Hollywood something new to whisper about.

Besides, only 13 movies this year have managed to hit or cross the $150 million domestic mark across their full run. Wicked for Good is on track to accomplish that in the span of a single weekend. If it edges past $163 million by Sunday night, it will also take the crown for the biggest domestic opening weekend of the year, surpassing Jason Momoa’s A Minecraft Movie ($162.7 million).

A Strong Chance At Billion-Dollar Global Status

The earlier Wicked film opened with $46.2 million before climbing to $474.9 million domestically and $758.7 million globally. Now, with the sequel already topping that opening number, conversations are rising about whether Wicked for Good could join the billion-dollar club worldwide. Some even believe it may challenge Lilo & Stitch ($1.03 billion) for the title of highest global grosser of the year.

Wicked: For Good Holds A New Spot Among The Biggest Openings In History

The film has also secured the spot of the 28th highest weekend opening in domestic history and now ranks 7th for the biggest opening day domestically in the post-COVID era, sitting behind Spider-Man: No Way Home ($121.9 million), Deadpool & Wolverine ($96.1 million), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($90.7million), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($84.2 million), Barbie ($70.5 million) and Thor: Love and Thunder ($69.5 million).

It has marched into the list of 2025’s top 30 domestic grossers as well, currently at number 28, right behind One Battle After Another. In doing so, it has already overtaken several major releases, including Ana De Armas’ Ballerina, Karate Kid Legends, The Naked Gun, Mickey 17, Regretting You, The Monkey, Materialists, and more.

The weekend is still unfolding, and the numbers are still rising, but one thing is already clear. Wicked: For Good is not just having a moment. It is making one hell of a run.