In the kaleidoscopic whirl of Emerald City, where emerald spires pierce cotton-candy clouds and the hum of enchanted broomsticks mingles with the trill of liberated songbirds, the witches of Oz have cast a spell that defies gravity—and box office gravity at that. On December 4, 2025, just two weeks after its whirlwind premiere, Wicked: For Good—the spellbinding second chapter in Universal’s cinematic reimagining of Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s Broadway juggernaut—officially crossed the $400 million threshold at the global box office. With a reported production budget of $150 million (a figure that, when paired with its predecessor’s costs, balloons the duology’s total to around $300 million before marketing), the film has not only shattered records for Broadway adaptations but also proven that musicals can still conjure blockbuster sorcery in a post-streaming era. Starring the luminous Ariana Grande as the bubbly Glinda and the powerhouse Cynthia Erivo as the green-skinned outcast Elphaba, Wicked: For Good transforms Act II’s poignant farewell into a visual feast of heartbreak, harmony, and hard-won hope. Directed by Jon M. Chu with the same opulent flair that turned the first installment into a $758 million phenomenon, this sequel isn’t just a follow-up; it’s a full-throated declaration that Oz’s untold stories can outshine even the Wizard’s smoke and mirrors.

The journey to this milestone began in the hallowed halls of Broadway, where Wicked first bewitched audiences in 2003, racking up over 7,000 performances and $5.4 billion in ticket sales worldwide. Loosely inspired by Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel—a subversive prequel to L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz—the musical flips the script on the witches’ origins, chronicling the unlikely friendship between the brilliant but misunderstood Elphaba Thropp and the perky socialite Galinda Upland (later Glinda). Act I, captured in 2024’s Wicked, whisked viewers through their college capers at Shiz University: Elphaba’s discovery of her innate magical gifts, her budding romance with the dashing Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), and the duo’s defiant stand against the Wizard’s (Jeff Goldblum) propagandistic regime. That film, with its jaw-dropping production design—courtesy of Nathan Crowley, who conjured a steampunk Oz from Norfolk’s Pinewood Studios—ended on a high note: Elphaba’s soaring rendition of “Defying Gravity,” a power ballad that propelled the movie to 10 Oscar nominations, including nods for Grande and Erivo’s transformative turns.

Wicked: For Good, released on November 21, 2025—just one year after its predecessor—plunges into the darker hues of Act II, where time has twisted the witches’ fates. Years after their paths diverged, Elphaba—now branded the “Wicked Witch of the West” by the Wizard’s smear machine—lurks in the shadowed forests of Oz, a fugitive fighting for the silenced Animals whose voices she’s vowed to restore. Her sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode), propped up as Munchkinland’s governor by Madame Morrible’s (Michelle Yeoh) machinations, embodies the perils of unchecked power, while Glinda—now the Ozian poster girl for “goodness”—grapples with her complicity in the regime’s facade. The arrival of Dorothy Gale’s cyclone-tossed entourage upends the status quo, forcing a fractured reunion: Elphaba and Glinda must confront their diverging destinies, with Fiyero caught in the crossfire and the Wizard’s deceptions unraveling like a poorly tied corset. New songs penned by Schwartz—”No Place Like Home” for Elphaba’s solitary lament and “The Girl in the Bubble” for Glinda’s gilded cage—add emotional sinew, while expanded scenes delve into themes of propaganda, identity, and the cost of conformity. “This isn’t just a sequel,” Chu told Entertainment Weekly during the film’s whirlwind press tour. “It’s the witches reckoning with what ‘good’ really means—flaws, flying monkeys, and all.”

From its glittering premiere at São Paulo’s Suhai Music Hall on November 4—where Grande and Erivo, arm-in-arm in emerald and pink gowns, reduced attendees to tears with an impromptu “For Good”—the film was destined for dazzle. Advance screenings for Amazon Prime members on November 17 sparked a frenzy: $30.8 million in previews alone, eclipsing the first film’s $19 million haul and marking the biggest pre-Thanksgiving windfall of 2025. Opening weekend detonated with $147 million domestically and $223 million globally, shattering records for Broadway adaptations and landing as the year’s fourth-highest debut, behind only juggernauts like A Minecraft Movie and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. By Thanksgiving, as families stuffed themselves with turkey and trailers, it added $92 million in its second frame, pushing domestic totals to $270.4 million and worldwide to $393.3 million. That Thanksgiving surge—fueled by double features pairing it with the original—catapulted it over the $400 million mark by December 4, with international markets like Brazil ($18 million opening) and the UK ($12.5 million) proving Oz’s appeal transcends the Atlantic. “We’ve got families coming back three, four times,” marveled Universal distribution chief Thomas L. MacDonald. “It’s not a movie; it’s a ritual.”

Financially, the triumph is a triumph of calculated enchantment. With a $150 million budget—mirroring the first film’s, but ballooned to $300 million for the duology when factoring in shared shoots at Sky Studios Elstree—the production was a high-wire act of opulence: Paul Tazewell’s costumes (over 1,000 pieces, including Glinda’s gravity-defying gowns), Nathan Crowley’s sets (a 20-foot-tall clockwork Wizard’s chamber), and John Powell’s score, weaving Schwartz’s anthems with orchestral swells. Marketing, a $90 million blitz (down from the original’s $150 million war chest), leaned into viral synergy: Dunkin’ Donuts’ “Wicked Brews,” American Girl dolls of mini-Elphabas, and Care Bears collabs reimagining the witches as plush protagonists. Tie-ins with Procter & Gamble (Swiffer spells for “cleaning up Oz”) and Amazon’s exclusive merch line—Sammi Ryan’s bubble-emblazoned apparel—turned promotion into phenomenon. Against a 2025 box office battered by flops like Tron: Ares ($180 million budget, $420 million gross) and Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, For Good‘s trajectory eyes $550-600 million domestically and $1 billion-plus worldwide, a sequel surge that outpaces the first’s legs. “In a year of capes and crashes,” analyst Paul Dergarabedian noted, “Wicked’s witches are the real superheroes—saving seats and studios alike.”

Critically, the film casts a more contemplative spell than its predecessor. While Wicked dazzled with 82% on Rotten Tomatoes for its bubbly origin tale, For Good hovers at 78%, praised for emotional depth but critiqued for Act II’s inherent somberness. “Erivo sweeps the field,” raved The Guardian, lauding her “black-belt screen presence” in Elphaba’s arc from rebel to redeemer, her “No Good Deed” a vocal Vesuvius that leaves audiences wrung out. Grande, stepping into Glinda’s spotlight, earns raves as a “tour de force”: her “The Girl in the Bubble” a fizzy lament blending vulnerability with vaudeville flair, evolving the pop diva from Victorious ingenue to Oz’s conflicted icon. “Ariana owns this continuation,” The Hollywood Reporter proclaimed, while Variety hailed the duo’s chemistry as “bending toward Grande every chance it gets.” Bailey’s Fiyero matures from himbo to heartthrob, his “As Long As You’re Mine” a smoky serenade; Goldblum’s Wizard chews scenery with charismatic con artistry; and Yeoh’s Morrible slithers with serpentine menace. Chu’s direction—shot back-to-back with the first, resuming post-2023 SAG strike—amplifies the spectacle: IMAX-friendly flights over Munchkinland, Dolby-vibing “For Good” finale where swirling mists and sisterly sobs converge in cathartic catharsis. Detractors, like IGN‘s quip on “excessively dimly-lit scenery,” note the sequel’s darker palette compounds runtime woes (2 hours 17 minutes), but audiences adore it: A CinemaScore, mirroring the original, with Fandango calling it “the highest PG preseller of 2025.”

The cultural cyclone is undeniable. Wicked‘s first act ignited a green-paint pandemic and bubble-dress boom; For Good amplifies it with “Witchification” tutorials on TikTok (500 million views) and Glinda cosplay spiking Etsy sales 300%. Grande and Erivo’s press tour— from Singapore red carpets (where fans mobbed Ariana, only for Cynthia to shield her) to EGOT whispers—has minted them as musical’s new queens. Erivo, fresh off Harriet‘s acclaim, eyes Oscar gold for her layered Elphaba: “a vulnerability and maturity that redefines the witch,” per CBC. Grande, shedding tabloid shadows, channels Glinda’s duality—frivolity masking regret—into a performance Rolling Stone calls “sheer musical greatness.” The duology’s new songs, Oscar-eligible, position the films for a haul surpassing the first’s 10 nods. Amid 2025’s turbulence—Predator: Badlands fading at $380-410 million, Zootopia 2 feasting on $156 million Thanksgiving—For Good is the antidote: family escapism with feminist fire, proving musicals can mend a middling year.

As December 2025 twinkles toward awards season, Wicked: For Good isn’t just a hit; it’s a hex-breaker. Crossing $400 million on a $150 million bet, it validates Chu’s bold split—two films, one epic—and teases a trilogy? Whispers of Wicked: Resurrection swirl, but for now, Oz endures. In a world of reboots and regrets, Grande and Erivo remind us: friendship’s the real magic, and sometimes, the wickedest tales end for good. Grab your broom— the encore’s just beginning.