“Wicked” is pocketing lots of green, with the Universal release coming in on the upper side of projections to head toward the third-biggest domestic opening of the year.
Now forecasting a $117 million sum for the weekend, that’d only be behind “Deadpool & Wolverine” ($211 million) and “Inside Out 2” ($151 million) among 2024 releases. And Paramount’s “Gladiator II” is no slouch either, landing in second place with a projected opening weekend of $60 million.
Theaters should be aglow about the two debuts, after being starved of a superlative hit through the fall. The last film to open with nine-digits (or even above $60 million) was “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” nearly three months ago.
“Wicked” earned $46.7 million from 3,888 theaters across Friday and preview screenings, a good chunk of which were held earlier in the week than Thursday, which is the traditional kick-off for a new release.
Although the big-screen adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical landed the third-biggest opening day of the year, it comes with the caveat. Take out the $7.9 million head-start it got from Monday and Wednesday screenings and “Wicked” falls just behind the $41.5 million opening day of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”
That’s a successful payout for what has been a substantial investment for Universal, which has gradually ramped up a months-long marketing blitz for “Wicked” throughout the fall. Produced at a $150 million budget, the Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande musical is proving to be the season-defining blockbuster that the studio believed it could be.