'Wicked' becomes biggest Broadway box office smash, overtaking 'Mamma Mia'

The movie Wicked has officially become the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation in box office history, surpassing the movie musical Mamma Mia.

The film's star-studded cast includes Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, alongside Ariana Grande as Glinda, the Good Witch.

Jonathan Bailey also stars as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as munchkin Boq, Michelle Yeoh as headmistress Madame Morrible, Peter Dinklage as Dr. Dillamond and Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard.

Newsweek emailed a spokesperson for director Jon M. Chu for comment on Tuesday outside of normal business hours.

Why It Matters

Split up into two installments, both films are adapted from the acclaimed Broadway musical Wicked, itself a backstory to movie The Wizard of Oz that explores the origins and friendship of two iconic witches.

The Wicked musical has a large and passionate fan base, which has parlayed into the first film's success. Since its release, the movie has been garnering impressive recognition from the industry and from fans.

On December 9, Wicked gathered four Golden Globe nominations, with nods in the Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture, and Cinematic and Box Office Achievement categories.

There are suggestions that Grande and Erivo could be in the running for Oscar nods come January when the nominations are announced.

What To Know

Released on November 22, Wicked swept us all up with its magic and became an instant hit, making $112.5 across its domestic opening weekend.

According to Variety, it has now grossed $634 million globally after six weeks of release, while Mamma Mia earned $611 million (not adjusted for inflation) by the end of its box office run. This comes after the film overtook 1978's Grease ($188.62 million) as the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation at the domestic box office.

This is good news for Universal and will most likely set it up for success when it comes to the second film. Wicked: For Good is scheduled to premiere in theaters on November 21, 2025, one year after the first film. Universal moved the release date up from November 26, 2025, to avoid competition with Disney's Zootopia 2.

Grande previously revealed she is yet to see the second installment, saying: "I haven't seen it yet, but I do know how it felt to experience it, and I'm still recovering."

What Happens Next

It is safe to say that the success of Wicked will continue to grow and fans will be paying close attention. However, we won't know whether the film and its cast and crew will be successful at the Golden Globes until January 6. Oscars nominations are announced on January 17, with the event taking place on March 2.

We also have Wicked: For Good to look forward to. The decision to split Wicked into two films was made to do justice to the depth and complexity of the original story. Chu previously explained that the musical's intricate narrative, rich character arcs and iconic musical numbers could be better explored over two films rather than compressed into a single movie.

By dividing Wicked into two parts, the adaptation can expand on pivotal scenes and include more songs and character moments from the original musical, as well as scenes that couldn't fit within the Broadway show's limited stage time.

"As we prepared the production over the last year, it became impossible to wrestle the story of Wicked into a single film without doing some real damage to it," Chu said in a previous statement.

"As we tried to cut songs or trim characters, those decisions began to feel like fatal compromises to the source material that has entertained us all for so many years.

"We decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one Wicked movie but two! With more space, we can tell the story of Wicked as it was meant to be told while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys for these beloved characters."