Universal’s “Wicked” has rejuvenated the box office after weeks of declining grosses, earning the third-highest opening weekend of 2024 with $114 million from 3,888 theaters.
That sits behind only “Deadpool & Wolverine” ($211.4 million) and “Inside Out 2” ($154.2 million) on this year’s opening weekend list, and shatters the $31 million record set in 2014 by “Into the Woods” for the highest opening by a Broadway adaptation.
As expected, the opening weekend audience is being driven by millennial women who grew up enjoying the 2003 Broadway musical, with support from younger women who are fans of Ariana Grande. Universal reports a female audience share of 72%, a higher share than the opening weekend of “Barbie” at 68%, and the same percentage for the opening weekend of the 2017 “Beauty and the Beast” remake.