Wicked is ‘Popular’ With Audiences

After a smashing Thanksgiving weekend, Universal’s Wicked has become the highest-grossing movie based on a Broadway musical at the domestic box office.

The film opened on Nov. 22, and on its second weekend, it reached a peak of $214.3 million domestically, surpassing the 1978 classic Grease’s previous record of $190 million, according to Deadline.

As of Dec. 9, Wicked has grossed over $320 million domestically, even in fierce competition with Moana 2, which has surpassed records at the global box office.

Wicked isn’t only earning big at the box office. Audiences are loving it, too.

“It was beautiful and sweet, and the music was awesome,” Courtney Peterson, a fourth-year film student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, said. “The story was so tragically sad, and I truly loved it.”

Wicked has felt the love across social media platforms, with moments from the co-stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s press tour gaining over 68.3 million views on X, formerly known as Twitter.

pic.twitter.com/NL8VlANzKa

— masha (@MashaParty) November 21, 2024

The clip went viral for the confusing interaction between Erivo and Tracy Gilchrist, an American journalist.

“Erivo clearly did not know what “holding space for the lyrics of defying gravity” meant and just knew that she had to take it very seriously,” one X user responded under the original viral post.

The duo recently addressed it in an interview with Variety.

“I didn’t know what any part of it meant. I didn’t understand the first sentence, and then I definitely didn’t understand what was happening, how [Erivo] responded,” Grande said about the viral interview. “I was like, ‘What did she say? What did [Erivo] hear?’ I just wanted to be there because I knew something big was happening.”

Erivo responded with similar feelings.

“[Gilchrist] had said that she was seeing it because she was in queer media,” Erivo said. “I honestly didn’t know what that meant. Am I also in queer media, maybe? Work, let’s both be there!”

The press tour has proven to be highly emotional for the two stars, as the internet seems to agree that Grande and Erivo cry in every interview for the movie—so much so that they finally commented on it in an interview with E! News.

“Honestly, this is a PSA, so sorry, guys,” Grande said in the interview.

“It is what it is,” Erivo added. “I mean, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

The film adaptation of the beloved 2003 Broadway musical began filming in 2022 but was interrupted in July 2023 by the SAG-AFTRA strike and wrapped in January 2024.

The project was a long time coming—with the first inkling of a movie adaptation being in 2012.

The production process was long. The star-studded cast was announced in late 2021, with Grande and Erivo as Glinda and Elphaba, respectively, and directed by Jon M. Chu.

The iconic characters were dream roles for the stars.

“This whole entire journey has been very long and very big, and a bit of a dream come true,” Erivo said on CBS Mornings. “It’s an emotional moment for me just because of what I’ve come through to get here.”

Fans of Grande have resurfaced a tweet from 13 years ago where the singer declared that being Glinda was a dream: “Loved seeing Wicked again… amazing production! Made me realize again how badly I want 2 play Glinda at some point in my life! #DreamRole”

The film is “certified fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes, with a critic score of 89%, and the Popcornmeter, formerly the audience score, at 96%.

Both the Broadway production and the film adaptation grapple with themes of dehumanization, rivalry, mob mentality and prejudice.

Erivo’s Elphaba is different than the rest. Erivo, a queer Black woman, wanted to put a unique perspective on the complex character.

“I hope it’s a bit of a love letter to everyone who feels different, who feels out of place, to all of the Black women who have walked into rooms and felt like they haven’t been welcomed,” Erivo said in an interview with Variety. “To anyone who’s walked into a room and felt like they haven’t been welcomed. I am really glad to be the conduit through which this character has been brought to the world.”

Conversely, Wicked places importance on love and true friendship. Grande and Erivo took this to heart when production began.

“We needed real connection, and we needed to lead this with love—even in the moments that are supposed to be fraught with tension within the piece,” Erivo said to Vanity Fair.

The film is only the first act of the original 2003 musical, so there will be much more of the duo to come.

The second part debuts in November 2025, and it has the potential to be an even bigger hit.