Entertainment

For Good’ in a Single Weekend

Published

7 days ago

1 December 2025

Released on Friday to incredible box office success, Universal’s Wicked: For Good has broken several records for Broadway adaptations already. The film passed a handful of older fantasy and musical movies in its debut weekend, which goes to show just how massive its performance was. The film’s $223 million haul is bigger than what most studio movies, besides the outright bombs, are able to gross in their lifetime runs. For instance, it took Wicked 2 just one day to pass the lifetime global box office haul of Universal’s own Cats, which was released to toxic reviews in 2019, and now remains destined for a lifetime of mockery.

And it took Wicked 2 just three days in theaters to overtake one of the best fantasy films ever made, director Ang Lee‘s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Released in 2000, the wuxia film grossed a grand total of around $215 million and left the Western world in awe. In many ways, it was the original crossover hit; in addition to its box office success, the movie also attracted a massive wave of support during the awards season. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was nominated for 10 Oscars, including in the Best Picture category, and, until recently, was also the top-grossing foreign-produced movie at the domestic box office. It has now been beaten by Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle.

The Critical Reception for ‘Wicked 2’ Has Been Slightly Muted

Wicked 2, on the other hand, is well on course to beat the $760 million lifetime global haul of its predecessor, which was released to an incredible response last year. Produced on a collective reported budget of $300 million, both Wicked movies — adapted from the hit Broadway show inspired by Gregory Maguire‘s book, which itself is based on the works of L. Frank Baum — have been directed by Jon M. Chu and feature Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in the lead roles. The sequel, however, wasn’t as well received by critics as its predecessor, which earned 10 Oscar nods and is sitting on an 88% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.