The movie Wicked had a fantastic start when it hit theaters last weekend. In just 8 days, it’s already broken records, becoming the highest-earning Broadway musical adaptation ever in the U.S. Directed by Jon M. Chu, the film avoided many potential missteps and won over both fans of the original Broadway show and newcomers curious about this Wizard of Oz prequel.
Wicked hit theaters on November 22, 2024, and surprised everyone with its huge box office success. Musical movies like Cats, Spielberg’s West Side Story remake, and Jon M. Chu’s In the Heights didn’t do as well, so no one knew what to expect.
But Wicked earned an impressive $114 million in its first weekend, easily beating Gladiator II. In just eight days, it made over $190 million, breaking the record (without adjusting for inflation) previously held by Grease to become the highest-earning Broadway musical adaptation ever.
Wicked might not beat Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast, which made $500 million, but it’s already outperformed some big musical hits. It has topped 2017’s The Greatest Showman, Les Misérables, and Mamma Mia! It’s also on track to pass last year’s Wonka, which finished with $218 million.
Besides making a lot of money, Wicked has impressed both critics and audiences. Some people didn’t love that the story was split into two parts and felt the pacing could have been better. But overall, the performances by Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda received a lot of praise and helped the movie connect with viewers.
Wicked tells the untold story of Elphaba and Glinda, two powerful figures in Frank L. Baum’s Land of Oz. It flips what we know about the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch of the North, showing Elphaba as a misunderstood character instead of a villain. The movie expands on the Broadway musical and adds details from Gregory Maguire’s novel. With its 160-minute runtime, the film ends on the powerful “Defying Gravity,” leaving fans excited (and waiting a whole year) for the next part of the story.
It’s no surprise that Wicked lost its top spot at the box office this weekend when Disney released Moana 2, which earned over $300 million. But that was expected. Together, the two movies have given cinemas a big boost as the year wraps up.
With more exciting films like Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Mufasa: The Lion King on the way, 2024 has turned out to be a great year for movies. It also shows that people still love going to the theater when the right films come out.
Source: Deadline