If you run a movie theater, the next few weeks might actually make you smile. Universal is aiming to drop Wicked: For Good with a projected $112 million to $115 million opening. That is a big number for a big musical sequel, and yes, the title says the quiet part out loud.
The numbers (and why they matter)
- Current opening-weekend projections for Wicked: For Good: $112M–$115M.
- For context, Jon M. Chu's first Wicked bowed to $112M the weekend before Thanksgiving.
- That debut teamed with Paramount's Gladiator 2 and Disney's Moana 2 for a combined $420M haul across the Wednesday–Sunday Thanksgiving frame, a high-water mark for that holiday stretch.
- Disney's Zootopia 2 opens alongside For Good. No tracking yet, but the original Zootopia launched with a $73.7M weekend.
The wrinkle here: Part One of Wicked has been sitting at home for months. For some folks, two-parters are homework. Why rush to theaters now if you can wait, grab Part Two on digital later, and make it a couch marathon? On the other hand, the draw of a big musical with fresh songs and finale-sized spectacle has a way of breaking that stalemate.
What Part Two is actually about
Wicked: For Good picks up with Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), now branded the Wicked Witch of the West and living in exile in the Ozian forest. She is still fighting for the freedom of Oz's silenced Animals and trying to expose what she knows about the Wizard, played by Jeff Goldblum.
Meanwhile Glinda has fully leaned into being Oz's sparkling symbol of virtue, enjoying palace life in Emerald City. Under the guidance of Madame Morrible (Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh), she is dispatched to keep the populace soothed and loyal to the Wizard's rule.
Glinda's fame grows and she preps a blowout Ozian wedding to Prince Fiyero (Olivier winner and Emmy/SAG nominee Jonathan Bailey), but she cannot shake the fallout with Elphaba. Her attempt to broker peace between Elphaba and the Wizard backfires, driving the two women further apart. The ripple effects are messy: Boq (Tony nominee Ethan Slater) and Fiyero are changed in life-altering ways, and Elphaba's sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) ends up in danger right as a certain girl from Kansas drops into the story.
And yes, that angry mob you are thinking of? They are on the march. The only way through is together, one last time.
They will need to truly see each other, with honesty and empathy, if they are to change themselves, and all of Oz, for good.
Bottom line: the first Wicked proved there is a massive audience for this story, and the Thanksgiving corridor turned into a money volcano because it had strong company. This time, the dance partner is Zootopia 2. If For Good lands anywhere near its tracking, theaters get an early holiday gift, and Oz gets its curtain call.