‘Wicked’ lands biggest opening ever for a Broadway musical adaptation
Following a knockout opening weekend, the movie adaptation of the Broadway show Wicked has earned the highest-grossing opening for any musical adaptation.
After its release on November 22nd, the movie has since grossed $114million, marking a landslide title as the biggest opening weekend for a Broadway musical movie. The previous musical with the highest had been Into the Woods, which boasted a $31million opening weekend.
The film also marked a major upgrade for Universal Pictures following their last attempt at taking on a Broadway property. Their previous musical, an adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats, had garnered scrutiny upon its release, with many citing the film as one of the worst of its year for its performances and use of CGI.
However, the film’s rise to the top did have had a carefully calculated approach to making the film a success, with analyst Paul Dergarabedian saying, “Keep in mind that the road to success for Wicked was thoughtful, strategic and planned out to the ninth degree and therefore won’t be easily replicated.”
The success of the reimagining of the famous story of the Wicked Witch of the West also has set a record for musicals venturing past the US. Outside of its domestic opening, Wicked opened in 61 different markets around the world, making it one of the biggest global openings for a stage-to-screen musical since the reimagining of Les Miserables.
Aside from staying true to the original stage production, the film also remained faithful by working with many members of the original production. Despite being based on L Frank Baum’s original book, the screenplay was helmed by Winnie Holzman, who wrote the book for the stage production.
Outside of its reputation as a Broadway musical, Wicked also has earned one of the biggest openings for any musical, becoming the fourth biggest behind Frozen II and the live-action reimaginings of The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.
Being a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, the movie follows the story of Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba as she learns to become a sorcerer and her friendship with Glinda, played by Ariana Grande. As she learns more about the characters in Oz, Elphaba begins to forge her own path before becoming known as The Wicked Witch of the West from the 1930s classic. The film has also announced that it would be split into two parts prior to its opening, with the next instalment set to open in 2025.
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