As expected, Wicked: For Good dominated the weekend with genuine blockbuster numbers. It’s been a little while since we’ve had a major blockbuster hit, arguably Demon Slayer back in September. To date, the Demon Slayer movie grossed $133 million at the domestic box office, a number that Wicked: For Good crushed in its first three days. While a hair short of my perhaps unreasonable guess of $160 million, the film still squashed industry expectations with a three-day haul of $150 million, which is way ahead of the original Wicked’s opening of $112 million last year.
Last year’s Wicked went on to finish with a grand total of $474 million domestic, $758 worldwide. Based on this opening, Wicked: For Good is on track to eclipse that number. Of course, sequels can make or break after the first weekend.
For example, Predator: Badlands opened way above expectations with $40 million, but crashed in its second weekend, falling 68%. This weekend, in its third frame, Predator stabilized with a 50% drop, earning $6.25 million. The sequel currently stands at $76 million and it’s probably not going to make it to $100 million domestic. Worldwide, it’s at a solid $159 million. I don’t think the Predator franchise is in any danger of being cancelled, but I can’t help but feel a little underwhelmed by its financial performance.
We skipped over second place, which went to Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, which fell 56% in its second weekend with $9.1 million. After ten days, the threequel is pacing about $4.2 million behind Now You See Me 2, but it’s doing well overseas, and its worldwide total stands at a reasonable $146 million.
In any case, Now You See Me fared better than The Running Man, which fell 64% in its second weekend. The Edgar Wright action flick grossed $5.8 million for the weekend, bringing its total to $27 million domestic, and $48 million worldwide. Sadly, this one will be hard-pressed to cross $100 million worldwide by the end of its run. With a budget of $110 million, that’s not nearly enough to make Glen Powell into a bona fide movie star… Yet. But who am I to judge? I’ve never hosted SNL. He has.
As for newcomers, the two “big” ones this week are Rental Family and Sisu: Road to Revenge, and both had similar openings. Rental Family debuted in fifth place with $3.3 million. As an awards season contender starring perennial favorite Brendan Fraser, hopes are high this one will have long legs through the holiday season.
Meanwhile, Sisu: Road to Revenge failed to build on the audience of the original. The original film followed a retired soldier fighting a platoon of Nazis. The sequel, set a few years later, sees Jorma Tommila return to his iconic action role, but this time he’s up against Soviet soldiers led by a devilish Stephen Lang. Alas, the sequel failed to build on its predecessor, opening to a mere $2.6 million, a sixth place finish, and down from the original film’s $3.3 million opening back in April of 2023. Maybe They should have saved this one for January. While I understand the idea of making an R-rated action flick counterprogramming against Wicked, I think this one would have fared better as a proper headliner in late January.
Elsewhere, Nuremberg dropped 50% for $1.2 million in its third weekend, a strong hold despite losing over 800 theaters. The film crossed $10 million and still has gas left in the tank, especially as awards nominations begin to trickle out.
Next week, we’ll have a better sense of how Wicked: For Good will perform in the long run, especially since it faces competition from Zootopia 2, which opens on Wednesday. There’s a fear that young kids might want to drag their moms to Zootopia, but this is one situation where the moms (and theater kids) have the chance to put their foot down and bring the kiddies to Wicked. Meanwhile, I can’t see Eternity breaking out, but the ‘afterlife romcom’ starring Elizabeth Olsen, Miles Teller, and Callum Turner still has a chance to put up some solid numbers… A slim chance, but a chance nonetheless.
Related: Box Office Report: Now You See Me 3 Beats Running Man At Box Office Race
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