‘Wicked: For Good’ Casts $15M Spell Across First 2 Days Overseas – International Box Office

Universal’s Wicked: For Good opened strongly overseas, grossing $14.9 million across its first two days in 59 markets (Wednesday–Thursday) with further rollouts including the UK, Spain and later China and Japan; the original Wicked grossed $758.7 million globally. The film’s first-day $5.8M and second-day $8M were powered by market-leading debuts and records — UK/Ireland double-bill previews $1.4M, Australia $2.3M (30% ahead of the first film’s previews), Korea $750K (market-leading, $1.7M through Friday), Germany $1.1M, Brazil $1.1M, Philippines $800K — plus robust presales (Vue reporting >2x last year), with the title topping box office charts and claiming notable market shares. These early results indicate strong international demand and presale momentum that could position the sequel to replicate much of the original’s global box-office strength, though full potential will depend on upcoming major market openings such as China and Japan.

Analysis

Universal’s Wicked: For Good opened with $14.9 million across its first two days of international play in 59 markets, posting $5.8M on day one and $8M on day two as the rollout began Wednesday–Thursday; further major market additions include the UK and Spain today, Japan on March 6 and China later in the year. The first Wicked grossed $758.7M globally, establishing a high benchmark that the sequel begins to approach given these early figures.

> Market-level performances show broad, above-average demand: UK/Ireland double-bill previews generated $1.4M, Australia reached $2.3M (30% ahead of the original’s previews) with an 81% share of the Top 10, Korea opened with $750K (54% market share, $1.7M through Friday), Germany $1.1M in two days, Brazil $1.1M including previews and the Philippines $800K through two days. Multiple markets recorded category records (biggest musical opening day in Brazil, best opening day for a stage-adaptation in New Zealand and several first-place rankings), and presales are materially stronger—Vue reports >2x last year and the best one-week presale since Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).

> Early indicators matter for studio revenue cadence and exhibitor demand but are conditional: the provided sentiment score is strongly positive (0.75) and market-impact is moderate (0.35), yet the film’s ultimate global trajectory depends on upcoming rollouts in China and Japan and on sustaining domestic momentum through the weekend and subsequent weeks. Risk factors that would temper upside include weaker-than-expected holds, negative word-of-mouth, or underperformance in those major markets which are not yet reflected in these early totals.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Monitor weekend and first-weekend hold patterns and the Japan and China openings before increasing exposure to companies leveraged to theatrical box office, as early presales and two-day totals are encouraging but incomplete
• If you have existing positions in studio or exhibitor equities, consider a measured, conditional overweight that can be scaled up if China and Japan replicate current international strength and week-over-week drops are modest
• Avoid making large directional bets purely on opening-week international data; use options or hedges to protect positions against downside from potential poor word-of-mouth or slower rollouts
• Watch presale and circuit-specific metrics (Vue and comparable exhibitor data) and compare relative share and per-screen averages to competitors to inform position sizing and rebalancing