Wicked continues to wave its wand at the Australian box office, where it clocks-up $20 million in its second week.
The Universal Pictures hit reaches the milestone just 10 days after its rollout in cinemas nationwide.
That figure should get another bump with singalong Wicked sessions at participating cinemas. From Boxing Day, fans will be encouraged to go large and loud with renditions of “Popular”, “Dancing Through Life”, “The Wizard and I,” “Defying Gravity” and more.
In other local news, the film’s soundtrack opens at No. 3 on the ARIA Chart, for the week of December 2nd. That’s the first time any Wicked music has impacted the national tally.
The lead single, “Defying Gravity,” by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, debuts at No. 42 in Australia
Meanwhile, Wicked has earned about $360 million at the global box office in just two weekends, and is ranked as the 13th highest grossing movie of 2024 worldwide.
In the United States, “Wicked” “Moana 2,” and “Gladiator II” are powering a record-breaking Thanksgiving.
Overall, U.S. box office receipts between Wednesday and Sunday came to $420 million, Variety reports, the biggest Thanksgiving haul in history. That smashed the previous benchmark of $315 million, set by 2018’s batch of “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” and “Creed II.”
Universal’s big-budget adaptation of the musical “Wicked” trailed “Moana 2,” but not by much.
“Wicked” snagged $80 million over the traditional weekend and $117.5 million during the Wednesday-to-Sunday stretch, according to Variety.
The feature film, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, has grossed $262 million domestically after 10 days in theatres.
“Thanksgiving moviegoing is shattering records. It’s an enormous lift,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “Is the business back on track again? Is everything OK? No. Parts of the business are doing very well, and parts are not. 2024 has been a volatile and moody year at the box office. Next year is when we’ll see how complete the recovery will be.”
The box-office bonanza augers well for “Wicked Part 2,” the sequel due out in 2025.