There’s no place like home — unless you want to go see the Witches of Oz make their return to the big screen.
Universal‘s Thanksgiving tentpole Wicked: For Good is all but guaranteed to bring the struggling box office back to life with a record-setting Thanksgiving feast in the $120 million-plus range domestically and north of $200 million worldwide. That would be the best start for a Broadway musical adaptation ever. The studio, in trying to manage expectations, have said anything around $115 million in North America would be a huge victory.
Wicked: For Good is the second title in filmmaker Jon M. Chu‘s ambitious big-screen adaptation of the iconic Broadway musical and book about the untold story of the witches of Oz. Ariana Grande stars as Glinda the Good Witch and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West.
The movie hits cinemas in North America on Nov. 21, the weekend before Thanksgiving. It’s also opening day-and-date around the globe. Disney’s Zootopia 2 is the other big holiday offering, and opens Wednesday, the eve of Thanksgiving. The animated sequel is also tracking for a huge five-day debut of at least $125 million. Thanksgiving week is one of the most lucrative corridors of the year (last year’s Wicked racked up north of $263 million in its first 10-day domestically).
Advance ticket sales are through the roof for the latest Wicked following a deluge of promotions that commenced Oct. 8, including the film teaming up with Dancing With the Stars for a full-episode integration that featured Chu as guest judge, an opening number choreographed by Christopher Scott and more. The episode resulted in Dancing With the Stars securing its most-watched show among the coveted 18-24 age group since 2015, and generated 57 million TikTok views in 24 hours.
That, along with numerous other activations, has resulted in Wicked: For Good becoming Fandango’s top PG-rated preseller of all time, and among its top 10 first days ever. It is also the biggest preseller of 2025 to date.
And, thanks to early screenings, the film’s audience racking is already 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, versus 96 percent for Wicked.
On the same weekend a year ago, the first Wicked made history when debuting to a record-breaking $112.5 million in its three-day debut, the best showing ever for a musical adaptation. It ultimately topped out at nearly $750 million at the worldwide box office, which was likewise the best showing ever for a Broadway musical adaptation, a genre that has been a tough nut for Hollywood to crack.
Chu’s Wicked movies are based on the generation-defining musical stage play and book by Winnie Holzman, from the best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire. The film score is by John Powell and Stephen Schwartz, with music and lyrics by Schwartz. The screenplay is by Holzman and Dana Fox.
In Wicked: For Good, Elphaba is demonized as the Wicked Witch of the West and lives in exile, but refuses to give up on her pledge to expose The Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) for what he really is. Glinda, meanwhile, has become the glamorous symbol of Goodness for all of Oz, living at the palace in Emerald City.
But the estranged best friends rediscover their abiding love for each other when they uncover a nefarious plot to ruin all of Oz.
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