Wicked: For Good Soars to Record Opening Day, Joins the Avengers and Star Wars Elite
Love it or hate it, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s return to Emerald City is a juggernaut: Wicked: For Good opened November 21 and stunned the industry by nabbing 2025’s biggest opening-day box office haul despite mixed reviews.
I did not have Wicked: For Good blowing the doors off the box office on my 2025 bingo card, yet here we are. Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo came back to Oz and immediately planted a flag.
The number everyone is passing around
The film opened November 21 and hauled in a wild $68.6 million on day one in the U.S. That is, as of right now, the biggest domestic opening day of 2025. Even the industry trades sounded a little gobsmacked about it.
"The biggest domestic opening day for a movie in 2025 so far."
Preview-night bragging rights (and rare company)
On top of that day-one splash, the movie muscled its way into a very exclusive preview-night earnings club that is usually all capes, sabers, and wands. Wicked: For Good landed at No. 10 all-time for domestic preview grosses with $30.8 million. You do not usually see a musical in this crowd.
- 1. Avengers: Endgame — $60M
- 2. Star Wars: The Force Awakens — $57M
- 3. Spider-Man: No Way Home — $50M
- 4. Star Wars: The Last Jedi — $45M
- 5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 — $43.5M
- 6. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker — $40M
- 7. Avengers: Infinity War — $39M
- 8. Deadpool & Wolverine — $38.5M
- 9. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — $36M
- 10. Wicked: For Good — $30.8M
So... how is the movie?
Here is where it gets spicy. Reviews are all over the map. Critics leaned mixed to negative compared to the first Wicked, while audiences were much kinder. The IMDb score is basically holding steady compared to the original, but critics dinged this one more than fans did. And yes, like most sequels, it took a step down on the critical scale (insert the obligatory exception: Sisu: Road to Revenge).
The bright spots people keep circling: the performances and the character arcs. Grande and Erivo are getting a lot of love even from reviews that otherwise shrug.
What this sets up next
Between the monster opening and the fan response, the franchise is not going anywhere. The main Elphaba-Glinda storyline wraps here, but the world is wide open for spin-offs. There are plenty of side characters just begging for a solo run, and given how strong the brand clearly is, the studio will not need much convincing.
Where to see it
Wicked: For Good is playing now in U.S. theaters. If you have thoughts on which character should get the first spin-off, I am listening.