“Wicked 2: For Good” Soars High at Weekend Box Office

As expected, Wicked 2: For Good debuted in first place during the weekend box office. Now, the question remains, can it manage to exceed the global gross of the predecessor?

Starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, Wicked 2: For Good opened with an estimated $147 million to easily secure the top spot at the weekend box office. With a reported production budget of around $150 million, the big-screen adaptation of the iconic Broadway play has, as of writing this post, collected almost $223 million worldwide. Wicked 2: For Good is no doubt going to be profitable for Universal Pictures. However, certain fans are wondering if it will be able to beat or even match the approximate $759 million grossed by the first Wicked film in 2024.

The concerns are legit. The movie has a 69% Critic Score and a 95% Audience Score over on Rotten Tomatoes. And while the Audience Score is impressive, there’s a bunch of talk in the fandom about the low rewatchability factor, especially compared to the first installment.

As someone who has seen Wicked 2, I can understand where such sentiments are coming from. The second chapter, similar to the play, is darker than the first. It also doesn’t have the same “vibe” in the songs either. And frankly, it’s not the movie’s fault. Adapting the second act of the play was always going to be an uphill battle for the creative team. From what I know, people aren’t big fans of Act II either.

And while the movie did add two original songs in there, titled ‘The Girl in the Bubble’ and ‘No Place Like Home’, I have to say, they felt “meh!” to me.

So, yeah, as far as my opinion goes, Wicked 2 will print money at the box office. However, I will be quite surprised if it’s able to match the total gross of the first movie, let alone surpass it. Having said that, in much chipper news for the fandom, there’s already Supporting Actress Oscar buzz around Ariana Grande’s role as Glinda. Yay for that!

As for the rest of the weekend box office, nothing major was released so as not to compete with Wicked 2. Starring Brendan Fraser, the comedy-drama Rental Family opened at number 5 with an estimated $3.3 million. Action flick Sisu: Road to Revenge followed at number 6 with an approximate $2.4 million. I might check out Rental Family down the line.

Talking about the holdovers, Now You See Me 3 fell about 57% to land below Wicked 2 with around $8.9 million. Yeah, the gap between the first two films is just… wow! Hollywood is struggling this year.

The Running Man, starring Glen Powell, was in 4th place with an estimated $5.7 million. I’m not saying this to be mean or anything, but I really want Powell to rethink his strategy to pick the right roles for himself. As I have mentioned before, he needs to do another romcom or an action-comedy with a female co-lead.

November 21 – November 23, 2025 Weekend Box Office

1. Wicked 2: For Good – $147 million
2. Now You See Me 3 – $8.9 million
3. Predator: Badlands – $6.5 million
4. The Running Man – $5.7 million
5. Rental Family – $3.3 million
6. Sisu: Road to Revenge – $2.4 million
7. Regretting You – $1.5 million
8. Nuremberg – $1.2 million
9. Black Phone 2 – $1 million
10. Sarah’s Oil – $0.8 million

Disney animated movie Zootopia 2 is getting ready to release on November 26, 2025. Let’s see how much competition it can give the sequel to Wicked.

Have you watched Wicked 2: For Good yet? What did you think of it?

Let us know.

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(via Box Office Mojo)

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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