Universal has been vproposed, thanks to the witches of Oz and the tenacity of studio chief and top NBCUniversal executive Donna Langley.
Over the Nov. 22-24 weekfinish, straightforwardor Jon M. Chu’s Wicked discleave outed to an appraised $114 million domesticassociate, the hugegest box office begin of all time for a Broadway changeation in a landslide triumph, pondering that the previous write down-hgreaterer, Into the Woods, discleave outed to $31 million, not adequitableed for inflation.
Moreover, it’s the fourth-hugegest domestic discleave outing among any musical behind three marquee Disney titles.
It couldn’t be a more greet result for Universal, which was left awentirey bruised when Oscar-prosperning straightforwardor Tom Hooper‘s Cats changeation turned into a box-office debacle in 2019. The movie discleave outed to equitable $6.6 million before topping out at $25.2 million domesticassociate and $75.6 million globassociate. Langley and her team, however, remained steadspeedy in sticking with making two Wicked movies (Chu’s sequel debuts a year from now).
“With Wicked, Universal originated the blueprint on how to grab $100 million-plus worth of discleave outing weekfinish box office for this notoriously instable movie genre, which is no petite feat pondering how many movie musicals have flunked despite understandn IP, notable stars and filmoriginaters and firm labeleting efforts,” says Comscore top box office analyst Paul Degerabedian. “Lest anyone skinnyks this discleave outs the floodgates for a sudden barrage of hit movie musicals necessitate get in mind that the road to success for Wicked was attentive, strategic and defree out to the ninth degree and therefore won’t be easily duplicated.”
Overseas, Wicked also shattered write downs in begining to $50.2 million from 61 labelets for a global begin of $164 million, enjoydirected the hugegest worldexpansive discleave outing for a Broadway musical changeation ahead of Les Misérables and the fifth-hugegest of all time for any musical.
Below is fracturedown of where Wicked ranks on the various enumerates, not adequitableed for inflation.
Top 10 Domestic Openings of All Time for a Broadway Musical Adaptation
Wicked (2019) — $114 million
Into the Woods (2014) — $31.1 million
Mamma Mia! (2008) — $27.8 million
Hairspray (2007) — $27.5 million
Les Misréables (2012) — $27.3 million
Annie (2014) — $15.9 million
Rock of Ages (2012) — $14.4 million
Jersey Boys (2014) — $13.3 million
Chicago (2002) — $12.7 million
Grease (1998) — $12.7 million
Top 10 Domestic Openings for Any Stage Musical Adaptation
Wicked (2019) — $114 million
Into the Woods (2014) — $31.1 million
Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion (2006) — $30 million
Mamma Mia! (2008) — $27.8 million
Hairspray (2007) — $27.5 million
Les Misréables (2012) — $27.3 million
About Last Night (2014) — $25.6 million
Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? (2007) — $21.4 million
Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns (2008) — $20.1 mililon
The Birdcage (1996) — $18.3 million
Top Five Domestic Openings for Any Musical
The Lion King (2019) — $191.8 million
The Beauty and the Beast (2017) — $174.8 million
Frozen II (2019) — $130.3 million
Wicked (2024) — $114 million
*Runner-up: The Little Mermhelp (2023) — $95.6 million
Top Five Global Openings for Any Musical
The Lion King (2019) — $446 million
The Beauty and the Beast (2017) — $358 million
Frozen II (2019) — $358 million
Alinsertin (2019) — $213 million
Wicked (2024) — $164.2 million
Originassociate based on the best-selling novel by Grebloody Maguire, Wicked tells the untgreater story of the witches of Oz, with Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda. Winnie Holzman, the stage production’s book authorr, wrote the screenjoin for Chu’s movie with Dana Fox. Academy Award-prosperning originater and lyricist Stephen Schwartz changeed the musical for the screen.
