Summon the flying monkeys and keep those houses from dropping on Elphaba, there’s money to make, people! Do you hear that, exhibitors? Money! You’d like some of that before the holidays. Well, Wicked: For Good could be the answer to your prayers because the high fantasy musical could open to the tune of $112 million-$115 million!
For those keeping score, Jon M. Chu’s Wicked opened with $112 million the weekend before Thanksgiving. Paired with Paramount‘s Gladiator 2 and Disney‘s Moana 2, the triple threat went on to bank $420 million, an industry high for the Wednesday through Sunday Thanksgiving stretch.
Skipping alongside Wicked: For Good during its opening salvo is Disney’s Zootopia 2, though we don’t have tracking for it yet. Still, Zootopia could pull a pretty penny out of its first weekend after the original scored $73.7 million in its opening weekend.
It should be interesting to see how many people show up for Wicked: For Good, considering that the first part of the dual presentation has been available to watch at home for months. If you’re anything like my wife, two-parters are a tall order. Why not wait until both parts are available and make it a marathon event?
Here’s the official synopsis for Wicked: For Good:
Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), now demonized as The Wicked Witch of the West, lives in exile, hidden within the Ozian forest while continuing her fight for the freedom of Oz’s silenced Animals and desperately trying to expose the truth she knows about The Wizard (Jeff Goldblum).
Glinda, meanwhile, has become the glamorous symbol of Goodness for all of Oz, living at the palace in Emerald City and reveling in the perks of fame and popularity. Under the instruction of Madame Morrible (Oscar® winner Michelle Yeoh), Glinda is deployed to serve as an effervescent comfort to Oz, reassuring the masses that all is well under the rule of The Wizard.
As Glinda’s stardom expands and she prepares to marry Prince Fiyero (Olivier award winner and Emmy and SAG nominee Jonathan Bailey) in a spectacular Ozian wedding, she is haunted by her separation from Elphaba. She attempts to broker a conciliation between Elphaba and The Wizard, but those efforts will fail, driving Elphaba and Glinda only further apart. The aftershocks will transform Boq (Tony nominee Ethan Slater) and Fiyero forever, and threaten the safety of Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode), when a girl from Kansas comes crashing into all their lives.
As an angry mob rises against the Wicked Witch, Glinda and Elphaba will need to come together one final time. With their singular friendship now the fulcrum of their futures, they will need to truly see each other, with honesty and empathy, if they are to change themselves, and all of Oz, for good.
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