“Wicked: For Good” is already casting big magic at the box office and it hasn’t even officially opened yet.
The new “Wicked” sequel has pulled in a massive $30.8 million just from early preview screenings, giving it the biggest pre-release total of any movie this year. It’s worth noting that those preview numbers didn’t all come from the usual Thursday night showings. Universal started screenings earlier in the week, and fans showed up in a big way.
The movie earned $6.1 million from special fan screenings on Monday and another $6.5 million from Wednesday showings. Then on Thursday, double-feature screenings of both “Wicked” and “Wicked: For Good” brought in $18.2 million alone.
The previous 2025 preview record belonged to “Superman,” which made $22.5 million on its preview night before opening to $125 million.
Now, “Wicked: For Good” is expected to bring in $150 million to $180 million this weekend possibly the biggest opening of the year. The current record is held by “The Minecraft Movie,” which debuted with $162 million.
Universal is keeping expectations conservative, predicting a $125 million opening, but fans’ excitement is sky-high. After last year’s huge reaction to Ariana Grande’s Glinda and Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba, moviegoers have been waiting for the conclusion to the magical story.
The first “Wicked” movie opened with $112.5 million last year and helped power the Thanksgiving holiday box office to a record-setting $420 million. This time around, the star-studded cast including Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang and more returns to wrap up the story behind the “Wizard of Oz” world.
Meanwhile, other films are arriving this weekend too, including Sony’s action sequel “Sisu: Road to Revenge,” expecting about a $3 million debut, and Searchlight’s “Rental Family,” starring Brendan Fraser.
With Disney’s “Zootopia 2” arriving next week, theaters could be in for another blockbuster holiday stretch.
