Box Office Report for the Week of November 23

Here it is, another massive opening weekend that cinemas have been clamoring for some time, and it’s happening right before one of their most lucrative periods. With Zootopia 2 opening during the Thanskgiving holidays, for the United States, there is potential for the weekend to once again repeat the same success cinemas had with Wicked and Moana 2 in 2024, which was another massive event for venues across the country.

In the case of Wicked: For Good, mixed reviews did not stop Jon M. Chu‘s second part from becoming the second-highest-grossing opening of the year so far, with a huge $150 million domestic tally, and an overall global cume of $226 million, the biggest start ever for a Broadway musical adaptation. We’ll see how it’ll pan out next week, but there is potential for the movie to leg out for some time, even with Zootopia 2 giving it fierce competition over the five-day weekend, because both films primarily target families, and benefit from one another’s presence.

Not only is Wicked the biggest opening ever for a Broadway adaptation, but it is also the second biggest opening in Universal’s history, and the third biggest domestic opening for a musical movie. It also largely surpassed the first movie’s $112 million opening, and is now also in the top 10 list for the biggest opening box office preview numbers of all time. It’s a massive win for cinemas, which will now be bolstered by a slew of potential hits that will bring people back to the multiplex once more as the magic of seeing a film on the big screen will never fail.

There were also newer, smaller films released as a counterpoint of sorts to the big blockbuster, with Hikari‘s Rental Family sangging a $3.3 million domestic opening, and Jalmari Helander‘s sequel to 2023’s Sisu, subtitled Road to Revenge, earning a $2.6 million opening.

Time will tell how Wicked: For Good will fare next weekend, as word-of-mouth isn’t as overwhelmingly positive as in the first installment. Of course, there’s a bigger conversation to be had about its awards chances, as the prior film was indeed a major Oscar contender, and was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture. I wouldn’t call myself an expert on these matters, but I do know that a movie’s box-office success doesn’t automatically translate into awards buzz, especially if the consensus discussion around this movie is weaker than the first.

That said, it could still be an Oscars contender, which we will know much sooner than later, as awards season enters its most exciting period!

Here is the full list of the top ten films of the weekend:

1. Wicked: For Good (Universal): $150.0M  – 4,115 theatres
2. Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (Lionsgate): $9.1M (-57%) – 3,403 theatres
3. Predator: Badlands (Disney): $6.2M (-51%) – 3,100 theatres
4. The Running Man (Paramount): $5.8M (-65%) – 3,534 theatres
5. Rental Family (Disney): $3.3M – 1,925 theatres
6. Sisu: Road to Revenge (Sony): $2.6M – 2,222 theatres
7. Regretting You (Paramount): $1.5M (-59%) – 1,754 theatres
8. Nuremberg (Sony): $1.2M (-49%) – 1,010 theatres
9. Black Phone 2 (Universal): $1.0M (-62%) – 1,227 theatres
10. Sarah’s Oil (Amazon MGM Studios): $771.542 (-66%) – 1,347 theatres

Source: Comscore