‘Wicked: For Good’ soars to $226m global box office opening including $76m international bow

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

Wicked’s game

Universal’s Wicked: For Good dominated the global box office over the weekend, with a $226m opening of which $76m came from international markets, based on latest estimates.

For Good’s $76m international start is 52% up on the $50m of last year’s Wicked; while the $226m worldwide opening is 39% up on the $163m of the first film.

It is the fourth-biggest global opening of the year, behind Lilo & Stitch ($341m), Jurassic World Rebirth ($322m) and A Minecraft Movie ($313m). It is also the biggest worldwide and international opening ever for a Broadway adaptation, beating those records previously held by Wicked.

For Good recorded 34% of its global opening weekend from international markets, up from the 31% for Wicked.

Among musical titles, the international start is also above those of Wonka, The Little Mermaid and Mamma Mia 2, and more than double that of Les Miserables. It is in line with 2025 summer blockbusters Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and F1.

Its $76m international result was boosted by $24.4m in the UK and Ireland – further details to follow in the UK-Ireland box office report.

It also soared in Australia with $8.6m, accounting for 78% of the top 10 takings and recording the biggest opening for a live-action musical, the biggest non-holiday opening of the year, Universal’s third-biggest opening of all time, and the third-biggest November opening ever.

It scored 26% of the total box office in Germany, making $4.1m and coming in ahead of Wicked, F1 and How To Train Your Dragon.

For Good started with more than double the openings of Barbie and Lilo & Stitch in South Korea, with $3.8m.

Further territories to take more than $1m on opening weekend included Mexico, the Philippines – with a 69% market share – Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, France, Italy, the Middle East and Indonesia.

Imax proved a reliable draw for Wicked fans, with $21.1m worldwide contributing to a $25.3m Imax weekend. It was the number two opening ever in November for Imax, and second-highest grossing family film opening ever.

Some $5.6m of the international total came from Imax – 75% up on the figure for Wicked.

The film’s major remaining market is Japan, where it is set to release on March 6, 2026.

2024’s Wicked ended on $758m worldwide, comprised of $474m in North America and $283m internationally. At almost 30% of the way to that total already, For Good will be aiming to surpass that figure across its run.

Tricked

Wicked’s dominance reduced screen availability for every other title in the market. However, there was still room for magic thriller Now You See Me: Now You Don’t to near $150m worldwide.

It added $41.7m on its second global session, comprised of $32.6m internationally and $9.1m in North America, based on latest estimates. It is unlikely to catch the $351.7m of the first film or $334.9m of the second; but has still performed admirably given the nine-year break in the franchise.

Anime-ted

Anime titles continue to hold space on the global chart, led by Japanese anime feature Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle.

Despite playing in just seven international territories, the latest Demon Slayer film put on $15.9m, mainly from a $15.6m second weekend in China, of which a sizeable $3.4m came from Imax. It is now up to $757.9m worldwide, as the fifth highest-grossing release of the year.

Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution added $5.9m from 28 international markets for seventh place in the chart, and has $17m in total worldwide based on latest estimates. Some $4.3m of that $5.9m came from territories where Crunchyroll/Sony Pictures is handling distribution, including a decent $3.5m from its Latin America opening.

Upcoming key markets include Germany (November 25), Netherlands (November 27), Australia (December 4), France (December 6), Italy (December 8) and Poland (December 12).

A third anime title, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, snuck onto the chart in 10^th place, with a $2.9m worldwide session of which $2.3m came from international.

The film now has an impressive $174m worldwide, led by South Korea ($24.2m), Taiwan ($7.9m), France ($3.7m), Germany ($3.7m) and the UK and Ireland ($3.6m).

Resurrection begins

Bi Gan’s Resurrection topped the China box office with $16.5m according to Artisan Gateway – enough for fourth place in the global chart.

Also starting out in many territories this weekend was Stage 6 Films and Screen Gems’ sequel Sisu: Road To Revenge. The violent thriller expanded to 27 new markets, adding $3.9m in total, of which $1.3m came from Sony-led international territories. It has $5.9m in total.

Wide-release holdovers include Disney’s Predator: Badlands, which added $13.5m including $7.2m internationally. It has $160m in total, of which $83.3m comes from international – making it the highest-grossing film ever in the Predator franchise, surpassing Alien v Predator ($150.3m).

Edgar Wright’s The Running Man added $12.9m on its second session in most markets for Paramount. Some $7.1m of this came from international territories including opening at number two in France with $2m; for totals of $48.3m worldwide and $21.3m internationally. China, South Korea and Japan are still to come.

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