'Wicked: For Good' flies to the top of the box office with $150 million domestic debut

Elphaba and Glinda person changed the container office, astatine slightest for this weekend.

“Wicked: For Good” — the decision to Universal Pictures’ two-part movie franchise — hauled successful an estimated $150 cardinal successful the U.S. and Canada this weekend, marking the second-highest home opening this year, trailing lone blockbuster deed “A Minecraft Movie.” Globally, the movie grossed astir $226 million.

The opening play assemblage for “Wicked: For Good” skewed adjacent much pistillate (69%) than the archetypal film, which counted 61% of its viewers arsenic women, according to information from EntTelligence.

Lionsgate’s “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” came successful a distant 2nd astatine the home container bureau with $9.1 million. The 3rd installment of the illusionist franchise has present brought successful a cumulative $36.8 cardinal successful the U.S. and Canada and a full of $109.4 cardinal globally crossed its 2 weekends.

Disney’s 20th Century Studios’ “Predator: Badlands,” Paramount Pictures’ “The Running Man” and “Rental Family” from Searchlight Pictures rounded retired this weekend’s apical five.

The Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande-led movie was bolstered by a monolithic selling propulsion that began aboriginal past twelvemonth earlier the archetypal “Wicked” movie debuted. Though the films are based connected the deed Broadway play, Universal wanted to grow consciousness of the communicative to markets that had been little exposed to the theatrical show.

As a result, the franchise has partnered with much than 100 brands, including artifact companies similar Lego and Mattel arsenic good arsenic much unexpected firms specified arsenic household goods elephantine P&G and online Asian supermarket Weee!, wherever manager Jon M. Chu serves arsenic main originative officer.

The film’s opening play occurrence besides points to a request for female-focused franchises.

After 2023’s “Barbie” grossed $1.4 cardinal astatine the planetary container office, determination were countless calls for much films geared toward women. But this year, galore of the big-budget movies were male-leaning, and the narrower returns astatine the container bureau person prompted questions astir whether films were reaching each imaginable demographics.

“Women proceed to beryllium a truly underserved audience,” said Shawn Robbins, manager of movie analytics astatine Fandango and laminitis of the website Box Office Theory. “In presumption of ample blockbusters, it’s been a infinitesimal since there’s been a female-skewing movie connected the standard of ‘Wicked’ oregon ‘Lilo & Stitch.’”