Whether conventional wisdom lays a claim that this is a “sequel” or the second part of a single story (like IT: Chapter Two or Dune: Part Two), there isn’t much to challenge in terms of it being the correct decision to split this into two separate features. The Ariana Grande/Cynthia Erivo-led follow-up distributed by Universal blossomed with $150 million domestically and $226 million worldwide in its debut. So yeah, that’s roughly a 34% jump from a year ago and 52% overseas, culminating in a 38% larger launch and affirming that Wicked: For Good is a breakout sequel.
Great news for a sequel that folks want to show up for, and folks out there are probably yearning to watch it once (if not, again) over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. It has earned the third-highest domestic launch for a November title behind Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and the second-largest for Universal behind Jurassic World‘s $208 million from over a decade ago. Oh, and it’s the second domestic launch for 2025, behind A Minecraft Movie‘s $163 million. Demographics skewed more to the women than males (even if the whole “two women” lead a major blockbuster is irrelevant, as folks will turn up for part two of two), and folks are still keen on more takes on a childhood favorite. Keep in mind that Wicked defied the odds when it came to Broadway and surely can do the same here; you can win the best of both worlds. In terms of grosses, it will surely get major legs in the holiday season, but it “should” safely reach its predecessors’ $759 million global total and might have the strength to get past $800 million worldwide (unless frontloading for a massive weekend becomes the sole cause).
In other news that isn’t related to a Broadway musical, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t earned $9.12 million in its second weekend, a drop of 57%. Much like we’ll get to others on this list, pretty much everyone else took a mighty hit this weekend, even if there will be a chance for a rebound come Thanksgiving weekend. The threequel will pass $80 million worldwide by tomorrow. Predator: Badlands has passed $160 million worldwide and will likely finish its run around $200 million.
Edgar Wright’s The Running Man earned $5.8 million in its second weekend and will be topping $50 million worldwide by tomorrow. Once again, Glen Powell is not the “next Tom Cruise,” and for as much as they could try with a big blockbuster for the second attempt on the novel, it would never pan out. (Fun fact: this writer rewatched the 1987 adaptation this weekend, and it’s much more Terminator-esque than we had any right to believe!).
Newcomers Rental Family and SISU: Road to Revenge earned $3.3 million and $2.6 million, respectively.
Regretting You will pass $50 million domestically sometime this week. Black Phone 2 will finish its total run at around $135 million. And Nuremberg will finish its run between $15-20 million.
Next weekend will see the release of Zootopia 2, Hamnet, Eternity, Wildcat, and Blood Star. Have a happy Thanksgiving!
