Of all the consolation prizes, a Grammy is a pretty good one. Less than two weeks after Wicked: For Good got entirely shut out from the Oscars, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande won a Grammy … for a song from the first Wicked movie. During the Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony prior to the televised awards show, Erivo and Grande won a Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Defying Gravity,” which is from the first Wicked film. Elphie and Glinda beat out Katseye, SZA and Kendrick Lamar, Rosé and Bruno Mars, and KPop Demon Hunters. It’s Erivo’s second Grammy Award and Ariana Grande’s third. Good news!
Cynthia Erivo doesn’t do vision boards; instead, she makes annual lists of the things she wants to achieve. But even she couldn’t have fathomed what a whirlwind the past 12 months would be, between opening the Oscars with Ariana Grande on the heels of their Wicked press run and subsequent awards campaign, to performing at Coachella, hosting the Tony Awards, releasing a studio album and memoir, filming three new movies and hitting the press and awards circuit once more for Wicked: For Goodamid rehearsals for her upcoming one-woman stage adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
“At some point, there are things that I could not think of to put on the list that were happening,” Erivo tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Would I have loved to perform at the Hollywood Bowl? Yes, and I did my concert there. Then I was thrown back into the Hollywood Bowl to do Jesus Christ Superstar. Did I see myself playing Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar? Absolutely not,” she admits of two additional feats this past year.
The abundance of offers could be labeled a Wicked windfall, as Erivo’s portrayal of a gravity-defying Elphaba in Jon M. Chu’s 2024 feature, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for best actress — news she learned of while flying to Sundance to receive the Visionary Award this past January — has seemingly translated into opportunities to do the same in real life. “Something happened where it felt like people went, ‘Well, OK then, what do you want to do? What should we try? You’ve been a green woman; you’ve been a witch’— I think even Poker Face had something to do with it — ‘You’ve done 79 different characters in one place, so what else can we do or have you not done?’ ” says Erivo, whose full slate is a testament to her embrace of this moment.
“Some of us, unfortunately, get put in a box and we are defined by the thing that we’ve done once, and now we’re only going to be able to do that one thing,” she adds. “I’ve been really lucky, and I’m extremely grateful that whatever box I’m in — and hopefully I’m not in one — is very expansive and I can stretch and try new things and grow and learn and be whichever character I want to be.”
Being Erivo might be the most demanding role of all. As we talk, the actress initially misremembers what she did and when as the overlap between projects and obligations becomes a blur discussing the horseback riding lessons, combat training and dialect coaching she underwent for her part in Gina Prince-Bythewood’s film adaptation of Tomi Adeyemi’s novel Children of Blood and Bone, set for release January 2027.
“We were doing all of that whilst doing awards season at the same time, and literally the day I had to get to South Africa to start hair, makeup, costume, all of that was the day after the Oscars,” recalls Erivo, whose opening medley with Grande has been at least partially credited for the broadcast’s five-year ratings high. “My flight was in the morning. So, when I say the day after, I mean the night of the Oscars,” she adds. “I had to come home. My nails had to be changed that night because I had embellishments galore all over them, so we had to get it back down to zero, and then I got on a plane that morning; 5:00 a.m. I was in the car off to the airport.”
There was no easing into her new character, Admiral Kaea, when she touched down in Cape Town. “The first day of filming was [Cynthia] on a horse, and her comfort level was like she was born to ride,” says Prince-Bythewood, who sensed Erivo’s dedication to the part even prior to casting.
“The thing that’s so striking, and I got it in our very first phone call, even before she got the role, I was like, ‘This is why she’s great,’ because of the level that she wanted to talk about the character … where she wanted to go with the character and the things that she wanted to know, the things that she had already thought about, the things she wanted to bring and the excitement … she was excited about every single thing.”
Reshoots for Wicked: For Good took Erivo directly to London from South Africa in May — “which was insane, which is why I couldn’t remember it,” she confesses. From London, Erivo then went to New York to begin press for her second studio album, I Forgive You, released on June 6, just two days before she hosted the Tony Awards — which drew its largest viewership in six years — all while doing Samari training for her role in Takashi Doscher’s action thriller Karoshi which was shot in Vancouver, Canada, from June to August.
“It’s sort of kismet,” Erivo says of the album’s release time. “All I knew is that we had Wicked coming, so I figured if we have the album the same year as the movie, it made sense for me. I just didn’t count that Tonys would also be happening the same week.” So did appearances on Good Morning America, The Late Show, The Tonight Show and the Today show concert series. “And we did DC Pride,” Erivo recalls. “Oh my God. What was I doing to myself? DC Pride was the night before the Tonys.”
As hectic as her schedule is, Erivo is rigid about preserving the voice that often leaves audiences in awe, whether heard in theaters, stadiums or on sound stages. “I’m always taking care of it,” says the mezzo soprano who notes she stays in touch with her vocal coaches, Joan Lader and Antea Birchett, the latter of whom she worked with on Wicked, and does warmup exercises before every single show. “I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I’m a crazy person. I don’t eat anything on planes. I bring everything with me: my tea, my water. Someone made a meme of the mug that I carry around because I have it with me everywhere. I have it in several different colors. I will not be without it because I want my tea to always be warm enough to hydrate me,” Erivo adds. “That’s just how I exist. I will do whatever I need to make sure she’s OK — except apparently take a break.”
That diligence with her instrument particularly paid off on I Forgive You’s “Be Okay,” which earned Erivo a Grammy nomination for best arrangement, instrumental or a capella, her fifth overall (she won best musical theater album in 2017 for The Color Purple) and first for a solo project. “I’m really proud of it because it feels like a nomination that recognizes my musicianship, not just me as a singer,” she says. “That song kind of wrote itself. I think I must’ve done it in 20 minutes, and I knew I wanted to write something a capella. I knew I wanted it to feel like a lullaby. I knew I wanted it to feel like something that would lift spirits, but I still wanted the complexity of what harmony can do in something when there’s no music underneath it.”
Erivo’s penchant for complexity also earned her an Emmy nomination for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series for her portrayal of quintuplets known as the Kazinsky sisters in Poker Face.
“It was crazy. It was insane. It was absolutely nonsense, and I would do it again in a heartbeat,” says Cynthia of the undertaking, not realizing the Peacock show was canceled in November after two seasons.
“I’m gutted,” she says when informed. “I thought it was so innovative and fun. It gave each person, each new guest, each character, each actor, a different thing to do. I’d never been given the chance to play something like that before, to do anything of that magnitude, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It’s sad that something like that that presents the opportunity to do something different outside of yourself is going.”
“Singular,” is the word Bradley Cooper uses to describe the talent of Erivo, which he’s seen in many facets since the two became friends, including in a private rehearsal with Gustavo Dudamel at Disney Hall for the L.A. Philharmonic Homecoming concert in 2021. Erivo performed with Dudamel again at Coachella this past April.
“She’s a unicorn,” Cooper says. “The making of Wicked — [my daughter and I] watched everything — her singing on that contraption horizontal. I voted for her for best actress. I know you’re not supposed to say that, but what she was able to evoke by being horizontal against the green screen, singing live, was so insane. No one could do that.”
It could be said that both Wicked and Poker Face were good preparation for Dracula, the forthcoming Kip Williams stage production in which Erivo will play all 23 characters in one performance at the Noël Coward Theatre in London from February to May 2026.
“My head is so full of information,” says Erivo, who chatted with THR just a day before the first full week of rehearsal. “It’s not just the words, it’s just not just the characters, it’s the movement on stage with these characters, and the changes that happen on the stage with these characters. Costume changes are happening in real time in front of you; the character’s becoming another character with a beat where there is no costume change; I’m putting teeth in at the same time.
“There’s so much onstage magic that’s happening that I have to be the captain of,” she adds. “I’m learning at the same time while I’m learning the characters. We’re also doing really beautiful dramaturgical work and figuring out the arc of each character, so it’s not just, I’ll change to this character and then just say the lines. Each of them has their own journey, and it’s about being able to differentiate who is where and how do they connect and whether they converge and do they separate and are they one and the same. There’s so much going on. This is unlike anything I’ve ever done before, and my brain is definitely being stretched to its limit.”
It’s that creative pull that Erivo finds exciting. “If it feels like [an opportunity] might be something that I’m going to have to learn from — this is really scary, this is going to force me to find something else in my character, something else in who I am — then I say yes,” she says. “The problem is a lot of those things are showing up right now, so I’m not saying no very often, but I do say no.”
So far, Dracula and a new film adaptation of Othello, co-starring David Oyelowo, are the only projects on Erivo’s docket heading into 2026, which is more than enough after a fall that included filming the feature adaptation of Prima Facie, for which Erivo stars in the lead role and is also a producer, and releasing her New York Times bestselling memoir, Simply More: A Book for Anyone Who Has Been Told They’re Too Much, in November.
“I managed to sneak a week off to go and do Paris Fashion Week,” Erivo says of her other plans for the new year. “I’ve always had to do one day or two days in that rush off and go do something, but this year I asked to have the full week off to go and be in Paris. That is what I want to do, so that’s what I’m going to do.”
She’ll also be initially occupied by award season, for which Wicked: For Good has drummed up significant buzz, with Erivo already making history as the first Black woman to be nominated twice in the Golden Globe category of best lead actress (comedy or musical). It’s surreal moments like that which have made Erivo slow to craft her next set of conquests. “My mind has been blown several times,” she says of the past year. “To this point, I still haven’t even dared to write the list [for 2026] because at this point, I’m sort of like, ‘What have you got?’ ”
Whatever the universe, or the entertainment industry, has in store, Cooper will be watching. “I’m so excited for her future and what she’s going to do,” he says. “In this business, sometimes you find people that inspire you, and then they’re such lovely human beings. And if they’re like-minded, I find it makes you feel this [sense of] community. This business can be very rough, so when you find somebody that’s supportive and honest about it, too, and you admire them and there’s a mutual respect, it’s a gift.”
Refresh for latest…: James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ashhas reached an estimated $760.4M through Sunday globally. Within that, this return to Pandora is now at $542.7M from the international box office.
The sophomore session added $181.2M overseas amid just a 25% dip (-15% excluding China), and increases in some key markets.
The 20th Century/Disney sci-fi threequel is currently the No. 5 MPA global release of 2025, while the trio of Avatar films have now earned over $6B worldwide.
Fire and Ash is thisclose to topping the $100M milestone in China (sitting at $99.6M through today), and will become only the second Hollywood movie to get there in the market this year, behind Disney’s own Zootopia 2.
Regarding the latter, the animals have now grossed $1,420.9M worldwide, including $1,099.5M from overseas. This makes Zootopia 2 the first studio movie of 2025 to cross $1B at the international box office.
Z2 is also the top global release of 2025, the 3rd studio animated release ever worldwide and the highest-grossing Hollywood animated movie of all time internationally. It has also entered the Top 10 MPA international releases ever. Weekend five added $67.9M across all overseas markets, for a terrific 15% overall drop (-1% excluding China), with five key markets increasing from last frame.
Before we dig into more details on the above, here are some other highlights from the weekend: Paramount’s The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants opened to $22.1M (including previews) internationally in 76% of the offshore footprint – the global running cume is $60.3M. And, Universal’s Wicked: For Good crossed the half-century mark globally, getting to $504M amid a very slight 17% dip overseas and a domestic increase. Also from Universal, and Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 crossed $100M internationally.
Christmas is over, but there’s one more gift to unwrap for all the Wicked fans out there. Wicked: For Good is hitting digital December 30 ahead of a physical release January 20, and there are enough extras to fill a bubble—or maybe even that creepy old castle your family owns but is just sitting there empty, in case you know a witch who needs a hideout.
Wicked: For Good‘s home release includes two versions of the movie—one of which is the sing-along version, so you can belt out the tunes in your own living room—plus over an hour of bonus features, including making-of featurettes and deleted scenes.
A Universal Pictures Home Entertainment press release breaks down those deleted scenes as follows:
“Brick Making” – A musical montage shows Munchkins busily shaping and painting brilliant golden bricks, bringing the Yellow Brick Road to life.
“Glinda Train Tour” – As Glinda leaves Emerald City, the citizens erupt into musical fanfare, sending her off with radiant cheers and lavish celebration – Featuring Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh and Bowen Yang
“Even You, Fiyero” – Elphaba retreats to her lair, wrestling with the sting of Fiyero’s betrayal and the weight of her heartbreak – Featuring Cynthia Erivo
“Return to the Governor’s Mansion” – Lost and abandoned, Elphaba returns to the one place she swore she’d left behind – her childhood home – Featuring Cynthia Erivo
“Friendship Montage” – A lively montage unfolds as Elphaba, Glinda, Fiyero, Boq, and Nessarose spend a carefree afternoon together—playing games, laughing, and relaxing over a cheerful picnic – Featuring Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Jonathan Bailey, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo
“The Wizard Is Sentimental” – Glinda steps into her ethereal bubble to float above Emerald City, contrasted with the Wizard’s nostalgic hot air balloon ascension as he reprises “A Sentimental Man” – Featuring Ariana Grande and Jeff Goldblum
Other extras include:
MAKING WICKED: FOR GOOD – Step behind the curtain for an exclusive look at the magic of Oz. Through never-before-seen footage and candid interviews, discover how the cast and crew brought this epic story to life—from the artistry of building Oz brick-by-brick to the challenge of filming two sweeping productions at once. A talent-led journey you won’t want to miss.
THE TRUE WIZARD – An exploration of why Jon M. Chu was the ideal director to bring WICKED: FOR GOOD from stage to screen. See how his inventiveness as a filmmaker and passion for WICKED are key ingredients for the humanity and joy we feel in every shot.
MORE THAN JUST A PLACE – A closer look at Elphaba’s new song in WICKED: FOR GOOD. Cynthia Erivo, Jon M. Chu, Stephen Schwartz, and others reflect on its emotional resonance, Elphaba’s vulnerability, and the expressive movement artists portraying the animal characters she sings to.
THE GIRL IN THE BUBBLE – A closer look at Glinda’s brand new song for the WICKED: FOR GOOD film. Ariana Grande, Jon M. Chu, Stephen Schwartz, and more discuss how the song comes at such a pivotal moment for Glinda why filming the sequence was such a feat of technical mastery.
KIAMO KO – Return to Kiamo Ko, where the film’s climax unfolds. Cast and filmmakers reflect on Elphaba’s embrace of her identity as the Wicked Witch, the poignant reunion with Glinda, and the bittersweet consequences that follow in this emotionally charged sequence.
FEATURE COMMENTARY WITH DIRECTOR JON M. CHU
Wicked: For Good stars Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Michelle Yeoh, and Jeff Goldblum. You can buy or rent it digitally starting December 30; it hits 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD January 20.
I attended the Wicked: For Good Screening with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, in collaboration with Xfinity Comcast. Crowds of young undergraduate members and a few graduate members swarmed the Atlantic Station theater in laughter, lively conversation, and excitement to see Wicked: For Good, with bright colors of pink and green paraphernalia. Being a member of the sorority for over 10 years, this experience not only brought the nostalgic feeling of spending time with my line sisters and other sorors but also truly intrigued me about the origin, purpose, and objectives of this unconventional partnership between AKA and Xfinity Comcast. In order to get these answers, I had the opportunity to talk with the International First Vice President of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, Charletta Wilson Jacks.
The partnership between Xfinity and Alpha Kappa Alpha started earlier this year, shaping a new opportunity for the sorority and young undergraduate sorority members to gain new exposure, experiences, and sisterhood.
International First Vice President Jacks shares how she thought this movie, in particular, was an opportunity to have a conversation about relationships and sisterhood, therefore leading to this collaborative event.
Photo by Jazmine Brazier/The Atlanta Voice
Undergraduate sorority members from three regions were selected to be a part of this partnership: North Atlantic, South Atlantic, and South Central Regions. Hundreds of young women were able to have this exclusive experience with their sorority sister and friends to see the raved and anticipated movies of the year with exclusive swag gear, including clapper fans (essential for Boots on The Grounds dancing), to elevate the moment.
She referenced the theme song in “Wicked for Good. “I also go back to the song…” Because I knew you, I’ve been changed for good.” These words embodied the life-changing relationship she was able to develop with her sisters, the atmosphere, and the lesson she wants undergraduate members to learn.
She states, “I look at my line sisters…we have changed, we have made each other better in many ways which we would have never thought. …The foundation was laid in our teenage years, in our early twenties. In our undergraduate years, that was the environment in which we were founded.
Photo by Jazmine Brazier/The Atlanta Voice
The Intentional Sisterhood
Vice President Charlotta Jacks explains that The Wicked movie was an example of understanding the complexities of relationships that coincided with the sorority’s values of sisterhood.
“One of the core values of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. is the sisterhood,” Vice President Jacks stated. She shared how the issues that both the undergraduate and graduate members face are most often led by personal conflict, conflict of values, and management of relationships. “This was an opportunity to bring in an audience of our members, primarily focused on our undergraduate members, our collegiate members. These are the future leaders of the sorority”, stated VP Jacks.
Relationships are truly the essence of how we interact with ourselves and our community, and how we identify in the world. Focusing on these elements, especially with the undergraduate youth who are in a pivotal, impressionable time in their lives, truly makes sense.
“We have to be intentional about relationships, intentional about forming relationships and sustaining relationships.” This is a message that the International VP Jacks wanted to impress upon the undergraduate members.
When asked about the future of the partnership with Xfinity Comcast and Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority Inc., Ms. VP Jacks stated, “The partnership was built upon what was built last year, and we are being intentional about this partnership…Xfinity partnership is more than the movies, it is closing the digital gap. As a people, we need to focus on closing the digital gap so our communities can really have access. “
At the beginning of the movie, we were able to hear a few words from Portia Akins, a sorority member and Comcast Public Relations Manager. She shared her experience working at Comcast, allowing the event to not only be about the value of sisterhood but also to provide an intimate networking opportunity for other undergraduate members to ask questions about her role and her field of work.
These are the leaders of the society, VP stated. What a rare opportunity to be in a fun-filled, yet intimate space, as the international VP of Alpha Kappa Alpha. Ultimately, the International Vice President wants to continue to grow with a partnership with Comcast and foresee new opportunities on the horizon.
After months of mounting anticipation, Wicked: For Good changed audiences for the better with a massive $147 million box office haul, surpassing its predecessor as the most successful Broadway film adaptation of ALL-TIME.
Bursting with whimsy and wonder, the emotional conclusion to the record-setting franchise continues to dominate pop culture while inspiring stunning themed looks, viral video breakdowns, and more across social media.
In Wicked: For Good, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is now feared across Oz as The Wicked Witch of the West and lives in exile while desperately trying to expose the truth she knows about The Wizard (Jeff Goldblum).
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Meanwhile, Glinda (Ariana Grande) glistens as the glamorous symbol of Goodness for all of Oz, living at the Emerald City palace and reveling in the perks of popularity.
As an angry mob rises against the Wicked Witch, Glinda and Elphaba will need to come together one final time and truly see each other with honesty and empathy if they are to change themselves, and all of Oz, for good.
Check out the final trailer below:
Directed by award-winning visionary Jon M. Chu, the final chapter of the untold story of the witches of Oz also stars Emmy-nominee Bowen Yang and Bronwyn James as Glinda’s fawning assistants, Pfannee and ShenShen, and BAFTA and Grammy-nominee Sharon D. Clarke as the voice of Elphaba’s childhood nanny, Dulcibear.
Were you changed for the better after seeing Wicked: For Good? Tell us down below and enjoy our wickedly delicious gallery of popular pretties on the flip.
Paul Thomas Anderson, Michael B. Jordan, and Ariana Grande might be chasing the same murky Oscars narrative. Photo: Merrick Morton/Warner Bros.
Nate Jones is back from leave and will be officially taking back the reins of Gold Rush on December 5. This week, he and Movies Fantasy League commissioner Joe Reid are splitting duties — Joe is capping off his three-month stint as this newsletter’s host by leading a conversation about this year’s moment-having Oscar contenders, and Nate is launching his season’s “Oscar Futures.”
If you’ve been around the Oscars conversation long enough, a few oft-repeated phrases and clichés get lodged into your brain. You become an expert in concepts like “category fraud” and “lone director” and how many nominations Diane Warren has accumulated (16). One superlative Oscars nerds especially like to play around with is “It’s their time” or “It’s their year.” Christopher Nolan winning for Oppenheimer? It was his time. Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis winning for Everything Everywhere All at Once? Finally, it was their time! The phrase sounds like self-fulfilling prophecy, or at least so vibes-based that you can’t really assign meaning to it. But we would argue that you can. And in fact, it applies to several people currently in the mix for this year’s Oscars.
Joe Reid: Nate, I’d begin by saying that “It’s their year” isn’t something that can apply to just anyone in the Oscar race. Renate Reinsve is very much in the Best Actress Oscar race for Sentimental Value, but I’m not sure anyone can make the argument that this feels like her time. Sean Penn is on most people’s short lists of Supporting Actor contenders for One Battle After Another, but I wouldn’t say this is his year. “It’s their time” is more encompassing. It’s when everything seems to be coming together for an actor or filmmaker: They’re in a widely appreciated movie showcasing good work, popular opinion on them is cresting, and an Oscar win would feel both presently earned and reflective of where they are in their career. Would you say that’s about right?
Nate Jones: Hi, Joe! First off, thanks for handling Gold Rush while I dealt with some roommate drama. (This new person is emotionally volatile, keeps a very odd diet, and hasn’t yet paid for her share of the rent or utilities.) When it comes to the sense of it being someone’s time, you’ve pinpointed a fascinating phenomenon. I’d add that “It’s their year” is actually two separate but related narratives. The first type is the one we saw for Will Smith with King Richard, Viola Davis with Fences, and Leonardo DiCaprio with The Revenant — an esteemed industry figure who hasn’t yet gotten their due from the Academy receives an entire career’s worth of hosannas all at once. (What separates this from a “career win” like Curtis’s is the sense that this project is genuinely considered one of the artistic high points on their résumé.) The second type is the one we saw for Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook — a performance that’s so undeniable that it doesn’t really matter what you’ve done before. You’ve made a leap, and everyone else just has to get out of your way.
This season brings one standout example of an “It’s their time” campaign. Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the most acclaimed and influential directors of his generation. He has been nominated for 11 Oscars over the course of his career and lost them all. Now here he comes with One Battle After Another, a film that has not only earned critical raves and the best box office of his career, but seems almost preternaturally plugged into the Zeitgeist of the second Trump era. No other film in the race feels as “2025” as One Battle, which of course only bolsters the argument for this being PTA’s year. By most pundits’ estimations, Best Picture and Best Director are both his to lose.
Apart from PTA, though, are there any other “It’s their year” picks you have your eye on, Joe?
J.R.: I’ll stick with the Best Director category, because you’re right that PTA makes for the best “It’s his time”/“It’s his year” case. But why couldn’t it also be Ryan Coogler’s year? Sinners is a bigger box-office hit than One Battle After Another, and Coogler’s career has been far more broadly consumed than Anderson’s has. With the Black Panther and Creed films backing him up, this feels like the exact right time for Hollywood to hold him up as their standard-bearer. Though I wonder if, because Coogler has never been nominated in Best Director before, a nomination in that category might be seen as sufficient recognition of his year.
Then there’s Josh Safdie, another director looking for his first-ever Oscar nomination. Marty Supreme hasn’t opened yet, but the buzz on the movie has it surpassing brother Benny’s The Smashing Machine. And while the brothers are insistent that there isn’t a competition between them, if there is, Josh is winning. And who doesn’t want to get onboard with a winner? That’s one of the messages of his movie!
I think the best argument against it being Josh Safdie’s year is that it’s actually his lead actor’s year. More than any other actor in contention this year, Timothée Chalamet has the potential to own the year’s best “It’s his time” narrative. At age 29 (he turns 30 in a month), he’s rounding up on his third Best Actor nomination, and if Marty Supreme gets into the Best Picture field it will be his eighth such movie to do so. His performance in Marty Supreme is a feat of chutzpah and kinetic energy that lends itself to terms like “undeniable.” And if the movie is a box-office hit, it’ll be his third December success in as many years (after A Complete Unknown and Wonka). Is there any argument against him being the leading man of the moment?
N.J.: The only counterargument to this being Timmy’s time is the fact that, traditionally, the Academy lags a few years behind the wider culture when it comes to acknowledging young leading men of the moment. Chalamet has had the best come-up of any young actor since DiCaprio, but recall that Leo didn’t win until his sixth acting nomination, when he was in his 40s. It might feel like Timmy’s year to us, but voters may still feel as if he hasn’t quite paid his dues. Especially as it seems like Chalamet is once again running a nontraditional campaign more focused on Gen-Z cinephiles than middle-age Academy members.
Which is why, weirdly, I think the Original Recipe Timmy might have just as good a case for an “It’s his year” in Best Actor. DiCaprio spent the first 20 years of his career being snubbed by Oscar voters, and his trophy cabinet’s looking pretty threadbare compared to his reputation. Shouldn’t he have more than one Oscar, the argument might go, and if so, isn’t now the time to give him his second? You may say Leo was overshadowed by his castmates; I say, “How many Bob Ferguson costumes did you see at Halloween this year?” He created an instantly iconic character in what’s shaping up to be the biggest awards movie of the season — there’s a narrative to be had here if DiCaprio, never the most dedicated campaigner, wants to grab it.
And what of the other major contender in Best Actor, Michael B. Jordan, who can claim as much credit as Coogler for making Sinners a sensation? He’s a huge star who’s never been honored by the Academy before, and there’s two of him. Couldn’t that make it “his year”? He’s halfway between Timmy and Leo — a veteran who’s also of the moment — though does that mean he’s the best of both worlds, or stuck in no-man’s-land?
J.R.: On the subject of Leo, I want to answer two of your questions in the reverse order of which you posed them: “How many Bob Ferguson costumes did you see at Halloween this year?” Well, lots, because the Bob Ferguson costume is a bathrobe, a knit hat, some blue blockers, and a dingy T-shirt and slacks. This is like how my best idea for a group Halloween costume was to get a bunch of friends together, dress normal, and go as the newsroom from Spotlight. As for “Shouldn’t Leo have two Oscars by now?”, this is my favorite kind of Oscar argument. If Daniel Day-Lewis and Frances McDormand have three, shouldn’t Leo have two? I think the answer is yes. And the above two examples — plus more recent second wins by Adrien Brody, Emma Stone, Anthony Hopkins, and Renée Zellweger — are proof that the Academy is less reluctant to bestow second or third Oscars than they used to be.
I like your Michael B. Jordan argument, and I’m intrigued by the possibility that he could take advantage of an even split between Timmy and Leo supporters and ride to victory. I’d feel more optimistic if Sinners were more The Michael B. Jordan Show, but he doesn’t dominate the way that, say, Ariana Grande does in Wicked: For Good. That sequel hasn’t been enjoying as pink and sparkly a reception among critics as the first one did, but most reviews point to Grande’s Glinda as the film’s highlight. And after two years’ worth of viral press appearances and the near-universal agreement that she’s even more talented than we may have thought, it feels like it’s been her time for a minute now. Certainly there will be quibbles about whether a second nomination in two years is overkill, or whether For Good is just plain not good enough of a movie to produce an Oscar winner. But you can already feel the exception being carved out for Grande. And with the rest of the Supporting Actress field crammed with pairs of actresses from the same movie cannibalizing each other’s votes (Hailee Steinfeld and Wunmi Mosaku from Sinners; Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleas from Sentimental Value; Teyana Taylor and Regina Hall from One Battle After Another), it’s a lot less complicated to just surrender to the girl in the bubble.
Speaking of surrender, does the fact that the Oscar-observant community is forming a consensus around Hamnet’s Jessie Buckley as Best Actress make this her moment by default? Or should we be talking about how this year feels like the result of several years of steadily breaking through?
N.J.: I think it can be both! Jessie Buckley in Hamnet feels to me like the closest thing we’ve seen recently to a J.Law moment. She’s not exactly an unknown — like Lawrence at the time of Silver Linings Playbook, she’s already a previous nominee — but her performance in Chloé Zhao’s film marks her transformation over a few short years from admired indie actress to everyone’s favorite new star. At the same time, her situation illustrates how much context matters when we declare it someone’s “year.” Ahead of the season, insiders were already whispering that this was a weak Best Actress field, so once Buckley wowed the crowds at Telluride, it was easier for pundits to simply call it early and move on to more interesting races. And without casting any aspersions on her performance, she’s also benefitting from the way the category has shaken out. The same way Brad Pitt’s path to an Oscar for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was made easier once he was nominated against four previous winners, Buckley is going up against performances that are superficially similar — traumatized moms like Rose Byrne in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You and Jennifer Lawrence in Die, My Love, plus another grief-stricken Olde Englander in The Testament of Ann Lee’s Amanda Seyfried — from films that are way less audience-friendly than Hamnet.
But talking about an actor who’s seen everything align for her this year also brings to mind a few awards hopefuls who haven’t been so lucky. There are two guys who, if you’d have asked me in August, I would have said were looking forward to it being “their year”: Jesse Plemons in Bugonia and Adam Sandler in Jay Kelly. Plemons seemed like he was on track to be the male Jessie Buckley, an actor who was highly regarded within the industry, previously nominated for a supporting performance, getting a plumb role in a two-hander acting showcase. Was he finally making the leap? Sandler, meanwhile, had preheated his Supporting Actor campaign with a charming appearance at March’s Oscar ceremony and was reuniting with Noah Baumbach, who directed one of his career-best performances in The Meyerowitz Stories. The stage was set for a “We never appreciated him enough” campaign, which is of course a subvariation of “It’s his year.” Bugonia and Jay Kelly both premiered in Venice, and while each received some positive reviews, neither was met with effusive acclaim. Plemons and Sandler could still both get nominated, but any sense that it is “their time” has dissipated.
Sandler’s Supporting Actor bid in particular had the bad luck to go up against two different types of “It’s his year” campaigns: Stellan Skarsgård in Sentimental Value and Benicio del Toro in One Battle After Another. Joe, who ya got?
J.R.: Stellan Skarsgård is an interesting case for an “It’s his time” Oscar. We’ve seen character actors pull off that narrative before — I’m thinking specifically of J.K. Simmons in Whiplash. In that case, Simmons played such a forceful, dynamic character that it was hard to deny his impact. Skarsgård feels a bit more like an Alan Arkin type: endearing older actor making his mark within an ensemble in a Best Picture nominee. That being said, I don’t think Alan Arkin ever laid claim to an “It’s his time” narrative when he won for Little Miss Sunshine, so maybe that tells me everything about Skarsgård’s chances to do the same. Maybe his first-ever Oscar nomination will be enough.
Benicio del Toro, on the other hand … It might be his year. Despite being surrounded by actors giving bigger, more bombastic performances in One Battle After Another, the word of mouth was immediately strong for del Toro’s disarmingly quiet, funny, “a few small beers”–enjoying performance. The more you think about One Battle, it’s del Toro’s sensei, Sergio, who carries off the film’s themes of resistance on a community level. His Oscar win for Traffic came 25 years ago, and he’s certainly attained the level of respect in the industry to warrant a second, especially if One Battle ends up as the Best Picture winner. Getting two actors from the same movie to win second Oscars would be an exceedingly rare feat, so maybe we’re talking either-or for Leo or Benicio.
What’s fun about the Oscar race is that the “It’s their year” picture becomes clearer as the season rolls on. In the next few weeks, the critics will have their say, with the New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and National Board of Review announcing their winners. Theirs won’t be the final word on the subject — it can be your year even if the critics don’t agree — but I think they can push a few narratives forward. Anyone you’re keeping an eye on for critics awards?
N.J.: You mentioned that Grande has become the Supporting Actress front-runner almost by default. But what if I told you there was another well-respected veteran, a previous nominee in fact, hiding in plain sight and ready to stake a claim that, actually, it’s her time? I’m talking about Amy Madigan of Weapons, who feels primed for a left-field critics-group win that vaults her into Oscar contention. Madigan feels so perfect a New York Film Critics Circle pick that, in the event the NYFCC goes elsewhere, the only reason would be a fear of being obvious.
Every week between now and January 22, when the nominations for the Academy Awards are announced, Vulture will consult its crystal ball to determine the changing fortunes in this year’s Oscar race. In our “Oscar Futures” column, we’ll let you in on insider gossip, parse brand-new developments, and track industry buzz to figure out who’s up, who’s down, and who’s currently leading the race for a coveted Oscar nomination.
Photo: Agata Grzybowska/Focus Features
The TIFF People’s Choice Award winner hit theaters this week under the cloud of becoming, if not yet the season’s official Oscar villain, then at least the official Oscar punchline. None of that looks likely to dent Hamnet’s awards fortunes at the moment: The Tudor tearjerker has plenty of fans among industry types I talk to, and even viewers allergic to its woo-woo nonsense (ahem) may ultimately find themselves a little misty by the end. If Chloé Zhao’s film winds up one of the year’s major Oscar players — it should, since it’s being put out by Focus, and not Tubi — that’ll be worth suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous Twitter jokes.
Photo: Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures
A $147 million opening — 30 percent higher than its predecessor — is just what the musical needed to maintain its Best Picture bona fides, especially since so many other awards hopefuls crashed and burned at the fall box office. But those boffo receipts came alongside mixed reviews, which all but kills For Good’s already-slim chances of pulling a Return of the King–style win for the series as a whole. The sequel’sbest chance at an above-the-line trophy will come in another category.
Frankenstein, Hamnet, Is This Thing On?, It Was Just an Accident, Jay Kelly, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, Sentimental Value, Sinners, Train Dreams
Photo: Tim P. Whitby/Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images
Skim the generally positive Hamnet reviews, like Justin Chang’s, and note critics’ side-eyes regarding Zhao’s “forceful, sometimes pushy emotionalism.” Says Chang: “The movie whispers poetic sublimities in your ear one minute and tosses its prestige ambitions in your face the next.” (He also quips, “What is Hamnet, or Hamlet, without a little ham?” Get thee to a punnery!) The lady doth impress too much? Maybe so, but if there’s one thing you can say about a director who leads breathing exercises before screenings, she is certainly to her own self being true.
Photo: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images
Chu has cemented his reputation as one of Hollywood’s most reliable IP guys, which is not exactly an honor the directors’ branch holds in high regard. If a nom didn’t happen last year, it’s not gonna happen this year.
Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another; Ryan Coogler, Sinners; Jafar Panahi, It Was Just an Accident; Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value; Chloé Zhao, Hamnet
Photo: Neon/Everett Collection
With the Rock and Jeremy Allen White dropping down the ranks, could there be space for an international contender like Moura, who won Best Actor at Cannes for his turn in this Brazilian political thriller? Neon certainly thinks so, bringing Moura out to schmooze with critics groups last week. It helps that the actor, who lives in L.A., is a familiar face from Narcos — he even has his own meme — and that reviews have been strong in limited release. (Melissa Anderson calls him “so spellbinding that he constitutes his own magnetic field.”) Neon is juggling a lot of foreign-language entries, but Moura is its No. 1 priority in this race.
For the first two hours or so of Marty Supreme, I was skeptical of all the headlines proclaiming this Timmy’s year. A charismatic, live-wire performance? Sure. But wasn’t this reptilian oddball simply too unsympathetic a part to catapult young Chalamet to Oscar glory? I won’t spoil what happened next, but let’s just say that, by the movie’s final shot, I no longer had those concerns.
Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme; Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another; Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon; Michael B. Jordan, Sinners; Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent
Photo: Agata Grzybowska/FOCUS FEATURES
“The usual adjectives barely seem adequate when discussing Buckley’s extraordinary performance,” says Keith Phipps, who echoes his fellow critics in declaring this Buckley’s film: “Shakespeare’s wife may remain forever a mystery, but Hamnet makes Agnes a creation of yearning, aching humanity who’s impossible to forget.” We’ll see how the sense of inevitability holds up over the course of the season, but for now, even rival campaigns are operating under the assumption that this is Buckley’s year.
Erivo has been pencilled in for a follow-up nod for the past 12 months, but I’m joining Joe in holding space for the possibility that she could miss out. Her character takes a backseat in the sequel, and while Part One ended with Erivo’s thunderous “Defying Gravity,” For Good’s titular number turns into a showcase for Ariana Grande. At least she’ll always have the sex cardigan.
Jessie Buckley, Hamnet; Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You; Cynthia Erivo, Wicked: For Good; Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value; Amanda Seyfried, The Testament of Ann Lee
Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Agata Grzybowska/Focus Features, James Lisle/Searchlight Pictures
Alas, poor Mescal! I knew him, Vulture reader; a fellow that Dana Stevens thinks was miscast. (She feels his character’s “rough edges are largely sanded off” by the actor’s “heart-on-his-sleeve expressiveness.”) Still, Alyssa Wilkinson declares he “knocked me flat.” Hamnet is strong enough — and the role emotive enough — that Mescal and Buckley will probably be considered a package deal. Recall, though, that Joseph Fiennes was not nominated for Shakespeare in Love. Will Shakespeare in Grief fare better?
Photo: Netflix
Who did Stevens wish would have played Shakespeare instead? None other than Mescal’s History of Sound co-star, who also pops up this week for the Knives Out threequel’s limited run in theaters. Despite sending increasingly frantic emails to Netflix, I’m still waiting to see it, but critics like John Nugent say his turn as a priest “brilliantly” walks a “tonal tightrope between unprocessed inner darkness, youthful befuddlement and gentle decency.” It didn’t happen for Ana de Armas, and it didn’t happen for Janelle Monáe, so anyone predicting O’Connor must do so on faith.
Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another; Delroy Lindo, Sinners; Paul Mescal, Hamnet; Sean Penn, One Battle After Another; Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value
Photo: YouTube
Is she gonna be pop-uUu-lar? (Sorry, wrong installment.) As Joe mentioned above, this category is so unsettled, and so rife with internal competition, that Grande feels like the front-runner almost by default. Think of it this way: By rewarding her, it’s almost like they’d be awarding two press tours for the price of one.
Photo: A24
Credit to Josh Safdie and casting director Jennifer Venditti for filling this ’50s period piece with the most never-seen-a-cell-phone faces put onscreen this year. The only exception is Gwyneth, who never quite un-Goop-ifies herself as an aging silver-screen star. It works for the character, though.
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value; Amy Madigan, Weapons; Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners; Ariana Grande, Wicked: For Good; Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another
Both Wicked and its new sequel, For Good, are littered with “Oz-isms”—the occasional word tweak here and there to make the Land of Oz feel just askance of our own reality, like “obsessulated,” “rejoicify,” or “braverism,” and so on. But there’s one that For Good goes back to over and over, to the point of weirdness: everyone tells each other that they’ll do something in “a clock tick.”
For Good already has a peculiar relationship with time, given that the movie itself (and even the creative team throughout its press tour) is hazy about just how much time has really passed between the events of the films—Madame Morrible notes in the opening that it’s been “12 tide turns” since Elphaba stole the Grimmerie, but we’re never given an indication of just what frame of time a tide turn is—or how the passage of time in the film itself is meant to be interwoven with the events of Wizard of Oz in the background (as with the musical, it’s best to just not think about that at all).
But it’s a “clock tick” that comes up over and over in For Good. Characters are frequently telling each other to wait a clock tick, or they’ll be back in a clock tick, or they only have a clock tick. It’s particularly odd, given that Oz also has “just a sec” as a turn of phrase—Glinda says exactly that when she has to pop her bubble to hear the Munchkins talking to her in Wicked‘s opening, so a clock tick must be the equivalent of a minute or two, but it’s not necessarily the construction that’s the issue; it’s that it’s used multiple times in For Good, including in adapting the one time it’s used in the stage show during Elphaba and Glinda’s catfight.
The rest of Wicked‘s Oz-isms become background noise, which is in part why they’re so effective—they don’t stand out as particularly jarring to our ears, in the way the repeated use of “clock tick” does. But there’s also another reason… because neither the musical nor its movie adaptation really uses a pretty major element from Gregory Maguire’s original novel, the Clock of the Time Dragon.
In Maguire’s version of Wicked (which is wildly different from the events of the musical in many ways), the clock is a crucial piece of Ozian culture, taking on a spiritual significance. A traveling mechanical puppet theater, the clock is a large tower-like object that travels across the various regions of Oz, putting on shows that people begin to believe are actually capable of prophetic visions. Elphaba has a particularly important connection to the show, as in the book she is actually born in the clock; one of its shows attempts to reveal the nature of her true parentage to her, and several characters’ ill demises in Wicked and its sequel novels are predicted by the Time Dragon, which even eventually becomes a place of safekeeping for the Grimmerie.
But the clock is never really brought up in the musical or the movie adaptations as much. The musical is at least a bit more involved with it, as the production is staged with the Time Dragon hanging over the stage, with its clock face forming a key background piece throughout, but it’s set dressing as a nod to its importance in the original book, rather than a significant plot point. The movies, meanwhile, are even more distanced: Glinda mentions the clock in Wicked‘s opening when she describes the time Elphaba’s melting occurred, and Shiz University has an elaborate clock that features a dragon motif in its design as a nod, but that’s about it.
The fact that the Clock of the Time Dragon is so unimportant to either Wicked the musical or Wicked the movie adaptations honestly makes the repeated usage of “clock tick” in For Good all the stranger—intentional nod or otherwise.
Wicked: For Good is out now, and on social media, the actress portraying Dorothy in the new musical sequel shared some behind-the-scenes looks at the set, as well as more of herself as the iconic Wizard of Oz character.
Who played Dorothy in Wicked: For Good?
Actress Bethany Weaver portrays Dorothy Gale in the new movie, and recently took to social media to share a number of different photographs of her on set of the movie. While Wicked: For Good chooses to never show Dorothy’s face in the movie, Weaver still made sure to share some photos of her in costume enjoying her time on set.
Check out the photos and video of her while filming below:
Jon M. Chu directs the sequel from a screenplay written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox. The sequel saw the returns of Ariana Grande as Galinda “Glinda” Upland, Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba Thropp, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero Tigelaar, Ethan Slater as Boq Woodsman, Marissa Bode as Nessarose Thropp, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, and Jeff Goldblum as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In a previous interview, Bailey teased that the “world gets heavier and more complicated” in the sequel, while also expressing his excitement for fans to see the tonal shift in the story.
Wicked: For Good is available now in theaters. The film was a massive success upon its premiere, opening to a $226 million global debut, and setting multiple records for a Broadway musical adaptation and its film release.
Hide your surprise, Wicked: For Goodtook the top box-office spot this weekend as audiences flew to see it.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the movie musical made $226 million worldwide, with $150 million of that coming from North America. That domestic start is the biggest ever for a Broadway musical adaptation and the third-biggest musical ever behind Disney’s Lion King and Beauty & the Beast remakes. Its $76 million international take similarly broke records for a Broadway adaptation, and it’s globally the fourth-biggest opening weekend of 2025 behind Jurassic World Rebirth, Minecraft, and Lilo & Stitch.
Marketing for Wicked: For Good has been a bit different from its predecessor last year, but Universal’s made sure everyone knew the second half of the Wizard of Oz prequel was coming out. (The first Wicked premiered on NBC days before For Good hit theaters, and the two were put together in one-day double feature screenings.) Despite more mixed reviews, audiences seem to really like it. The studio may be open to doing more in this world, but Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are treating the film like it’s their last time in these roles, which has probably helped get butts in seats as they and the rest of the cast belt out songs from the musical.
The first Wicked had a good theatrical life thanks to a sing-along version released over the holidays. For Good’s probably getting the same treatment, but even if it doesn’t, it’s definitely going to dominate the rest of the year.
Universal Pictures’ two-part “Wicked” gamble continues to defy gravity at the box office. Just a year after part one brought droves of audiences to movie theaters around the country, even more people bought opening weekend tickets to see the epic conclusion, “Wicked: For Good.” According to studio estimates on Sunday, “Wicked: For Good” earned $150 million from North American theaters in its first days in theaters and $226 million globally.Not only is it the biggest opening ever for a Broadway musical adaptation, unseating the record set by the first film’s $112 million launch, it’s also the second biggest debut of the year behind “A Minecraft Movie’s” $162 million.”The results are just fantastic,” said Jim Orr, who heads domestic distribution for Universal. “Some films can deliver a false positive when tickets go on sale early but these results speak for themselves.”Universal began rolling out “Wicked: For Good” in theaters earlier this week, with previews on Monday ($6.1 million from 1,050 theaters) and Wednesday ($6.5 million from 2,300 theaters). By Friday it was playing in 4,115 North American locations and had raked in $68.6 million. IMAX showings accounted for $15.5 million, or 11%, of its domestic haul — a November record for the company.IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond said in a statement that the strong market share shows, “our momentum carries into demos and genres beyond our traditional core, including families.”As with the first film, women powered opening weekend, making up around 71% of ticket buyers according to PostTrak exit polls. Critics were somewhat mixed on the final chapter, but audiences weren’t: An overwhelming 83% of audiences said it was one they would “definitely recommend” to friends. As far as foot traffic is concerned, the box office tracker EntTelligence estimates that about 2 million more people came out for “Wicked: For Good’s” first weekend than for “Wicked’s.”Jon M. Chu directed both “Wicked” films, starring Cynthia Ervio and Ariana Grande. The first film made over $758.7 million worldwide and received 10 Oscar nominations (winning two, for costume and production design ). The question is how high “Wicked: For Good” can soar. Combined, the two films cost around $300 million to produce, not including marketing and promotion costs.”The first film paved the way,” Orr said. “It’s really become a cultural event I think audiences are going to be flocking to theaters for quite some time to come.”Two other films also opened in wide release this weekend, but further down on the charts behind a buffet of holdovers. Searchlight Pictures opened its Brendan Fraser film “Rental Family” in 1,925 theaters where it earned $3.3 million. The Finnish action film “Sisu: Road to Revenge,” a Sony release, also played in 2,222 theaters. It earned an estimated $2.6 million.Second place went to “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” with $9.1 million in its second weekend, followed by “Predator: Badlands” with $6.3 million in weekend three. “The Running Man” followed in fourth place with $5.8 million, down 65% from its debut last weekend.Although this weekend the box office was more of a winner takes all scenario, “Wicked: For Good’s” success is vitally important for the exhibition industry as a whole as it enters the final weeks of the year.”It sets up a very strong final homestretch of the year,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s head of marketplace trends.After the slow fall season, the Thanksgiving blockbusters could not arrive soon enough. Early next week, “Zootopia 2” enters the mix and is also expected to drive big crowds to the cineplex over the holiday break.Thanksgiving is often one of the biggest moviegoing frames of the year, Dergarabedian said, and both “Wicked 2” and “Zootopia 2” will benefit. Last year “Wicked,” “Moana 2” and “Gladiator II” helped power a record five-day frame.The running domestic box office is currently hovering around $7.5 billion, according to Comscore. Before the pandemic, the annual box office would regularly hit $11 billion, but the post-pandemic goal has lessened to $9 billion. The big question now is whether titles like “Wicked: For Good,” “Zootopia 2” and “Avatar:Fire and Ash” can push the industry over that threshold.Top 10 movies by domestic box officeWith final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:1. “Wicked: For Good,” $150 million.2. “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t,” $9.1 million.3. “Predator: Badlands,” $6.3 million.4. “The Running Man,” $5.8 million.5. “Rental Family,” $3.3 million.6. “Sisu: Road to Revenge,” $2.6 million.7. “Regretting You,” $1.5 million.8. “Nuremberg,” $1.2 million.9. “Black Phone 2,” $1 million.10. “Sarah’s Oil,” $711,542.
Universal Pictures’ two-part “Wicked” gamble continues to defy gravity at the box office. Just a year after part one brought droves of audiences to movie theaters around the country, even more people bought opening weekend tickets to see the epic conclusion, “Wicked: For Good.” According to studio estimates on Sunday, “Wicked: For Good” earned $150 million from North American theaters in its first days in theaters and $226 million globally.
Not only is it the biggest opening ever for a Broadway musical adaptation, unseating the record set by the first film’s $112 million launch, it’s also the second biggest debut of the year behind “A Minecraft Movie’s” $162 million.
“The results are just fantastic,” said Jim Orr, who heads domestic distribution for Universal. “Some films can deliver a false positive when tickets go on sale early but these results speak for themselves.”
Universal began rolling out “Wicked: For Good” in theaters earlier this week, with previews on Monday ($6.1 million from 1,050 theaters) and Wednesday ($6.5 million from 2,300 theaters). By Friday it was playing in 4,115 North American locations and had raked in $68.6 million. IMAX showings accounted for $15.5 million, or 11%, of its domestic haul — a November record for the company.
IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond said in a statement that the strong market share shows, “our momentum carries into demos and genres beyond our traditional core, including families.”
As with the first film, women powered opening weekend, making up around 71% of ticket buyers according to PostTrak exit polls. Critics were somewhat mixed on the final chapter, but audiences weren’t: An overwhelming 83% of audiences said it was one they would “definitely recommend” to friends. As far as foot traffic is concerned, the box office tracker EntTelligence estimates that about 2 million more people came out for “Wicked: For Good’s” first weekend than for “Wicked’s.”
Jon M. Chu directed both “Wicked” films, starring Cynthia Ervio and Ariana Grande. The first film made over $758.7 million worldwide and received 10 Oscar nominations (winning two, for costume and production design ). The question is how high “Wicked: For Good” can soar. Combined, the two films cost around $300 million to produce, not including marketing and promotion costs.
“The first film paved the way,” Orr said. “It’s really become a cultural event I think audiences are going to be flocking to theaters for quite some time to come.”
Two other films also opened in wide release this weekend, but further down on the charts behind a buffet of holdovers. Searchlight Pictures opened its Brendan Fraser film “Rental Family” in 1,925 theaters where it earned $3.3 million. The Finnish action film “Sisu: Road to Revenge,” a Sony release, also played in 2,222 theaters. It earned an estimated $2.6 million.
Second place went to “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” with $9.1 million in its second weekend, followed by “Predator: Badlands” with $6.3 million in weekend three. “The Running Man” followed in fourth place with $5.8 million, down 65% from its debut last weekend.
Although this weekend the box office was more of a winner takes all scenario, “Wicked: For Good’s” success is vitally important for the exhibition industry as a whole as it enters the final weeks of the year.
“It sets up a very strong final homestretch of the year,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s head of marketplace trends.
After the slow fall season, the Thanksgiving blockbusters could not arrive soon enough. Early next week, “Zootopia 2” enters the mix and is also expected to drive big crowds to the cineplex over the holiday break.
Thanksgiving is often one of the biggest moviegoing frames of the year, Dergarabedian said, and both “Wicked 2” and “Zootopia 2” will benefit. Last year “Wicked,” “Moana 2” and “Gladiator II” helped power a record five-day frame.
The running domestic box office is currently hovering around $7.5 billion, according to Comscore. Before the pandemic, the annual box office would regularly hit $11 billion, but the post-pandemic goal has lessened to $9 billion. The big question now is whether titles like “Wicked: For Good,” “Zootopia 2” and “Avatar:Fire and Ash” can push the industry over that threshold.
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
After their journey through Oz, it’s safe to say that Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have been changed for good.
The Wicked: For Good stars bid farewell to Glinda and Elphaba in some bittersweet tributes to the characters as part two of the Jon M. Chu-helmed movie musical premiered on Friday in theaters.
“Thank you, my sweet Glinda, for everything,” wrote Grande on Instagram. “I will love you always … Wicked: For Good is out now.”
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Erivo captioned her own post, “I could write you an essay, a poem, Shakespearean prose, to describe what this journey has meant to me, what lessons this time has taught me, bought me. I could try to give a metric to the love I have felt and experienced. I could give a number to the stories I have heard. The truth is the numbers are too small and the words are not enough. So I’ll simply say this.
“Take my hand and walk with me to the end of this road paved with gold and hopefully, the things that I’ve found, might find you too,” she continued. “Thank you for letting me be your Elphaba. All my love, C”
Following last year’s Wicked, the second installment of the feature adaptation has marked a career-best opening for Grande, Erivo and Chu, with a $150M domestic bow and $226M globally.
The 3x Oscar nominee recently detailed what was going through her head when she shoved away Australian influencer Johnson Wen (aka Pyjamamann) as he rushed Grande and put his arm around her last week on the red carpet of Wicked: For Good‘s Singapore premiere.
“I wasn’t really thinking,” said Erivo on Today. “I just wanted to make sure my friend was safe. I’m sure he didn’t mean us harm, but you never know with those things. I just wanted to make sure she was okay. That was my first instinct.”
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Wen, who was charged with being a public nuisance, posted a video of himself jumping the barricade and running to Grande. “Dear Ariana Grande Thank You for letting me Jump on the Yellow Carpet with You,” he wrote on Instagram.
Having since pleaded guilty, Wen was sentenced to nine days in jail, promising a judge he would not repeat his behavior.
The serial invader has previously attempted similar stunts at a Katy Perry show, a Chainsmokers concert and a variety of sporting events such as the 2023 FIFA World Cup FinaI, among many other events.
As audiences fly to see Wicked: For Goodthis weekend (and the next, and the one after that…), the world of Oz may have more to offer.
During the film’s New York premiere, the musical’s creator, Stephen Schwartz, told The Ankler “the right idea” may not exist for a proper sequel. That said, he did reveal he’s working with the films’ co-writer Winnie Holzman on ideas set in the world of Wicked. Dependent on how well For Good does at the box office, of course, but he considers Elphaba and Glinda’s stories complete, so that potential continuation would have to be something different: “Not a sequel, but an adjunct,” he told the outlet.
Whatever this idea is, it’s separate from adapting post-Wicked novels that were written by Gregory Maguire, as well as the later Oz books written by Frank L. Baum and other writers of the original Oz canon. The only stipulation Schwartz has right now is that such a project exists “beyond simply making money. As far as right now, no one has yet presented an idea that I’ve heard that would justify such a thing.” He thinks such a follow-up could exist, but even if it doesn’t, Wicked and Wicked: For Good have succeeded in renewing interest in movie musicals.
“In success, everybody wins,” added the film’s executive music producer, Stephen Oremus. “If the Wicked movies get people excited about telling musical stories and more movies get made or start development, it just goes to show you that’s incredible.”
While there may be no perfect way to handle Dorothy’s inclusion in the story of Wicked and Wicked: For Good, the new Jon M. Chu movie portrays the character in a smart way.
The events of The Wizard of Oz begin to transpire in the second half of Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s Wicked musical. Dorothy Gale is never actually seen in the show; rather, her presence is merely suggested and discussed, though a silhouette of the character is seen throwing a bucket of water at Elphaba near the end.
How was Dorothy portrayed in Wicked: For Good?
Universal Pictures‘ Wicked: For Good, which is now playing in United States theaters, handles Dorothy’s presence in Oz in a similar fashion. Not only does the character have very limited screen time, but her face is never actually shown. The events of The Wizard of Oz are referenced, but very rarely actually seen on the screen.
Some may find this distracting; however, it’s the best way to adapt the source material. Wicked isn’t The Wizard of Oz — meaning, you probably already know how Dorothy dropped in, met some friends, and went on a quest. We’re telling a different story in Wicked, and we don’t need to spend too much time recapping the beloved 1939 film.
Showing Dorothy’s face would have invited a whole bunch of unfair comparisons to Judy Garland. If they were to give Dorothy a larger role and have her speak, the internet would be abuzz comparing her to past interpretations of the character, which then would have taken the spotlight away from the movie’s actual stars, Glinda (Ariana Grande) and Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo).
Chu has more or less confirmed that this was his reasoning for not showing Dorothy’s face, as he told People, “I didn’t want to step on who you think Dorothy is in whatever story that you came into this with. [This] is still Elphaba and Glinda’s journey, and she is a pawn in the middle of all of it.”
Making the stage show Wicked into two movies was controversial enough. Now, because the film versions have been so wildly successful, everyone is imagining what a potential third movie would be like, and one person has a really good idea for it.
Speaking to Deadline, Dana Fox, who co-wrote the script to Wicked: For Goodwith the writer of the original show, Winnie Holzman, pointed to a specific line at the end of the new film that, she thinks, could be a perfect way to continue the story. If, of course, that even happens. There are currently no plans, but when Wicked: For Good makes almost $200 million this weekend, that could very well change.
The line is from the very end of the movie and could be considered a spoiler, so here’s your warning.
In Wicked: For Good, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) fakes her death at the hands of Dorothy (as seen in The Wizard of Oz) and heads to a mysterious place beyond Oz to live with her prince turned scarecrow, Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey). Glinda (Ariana Grande) isn’t made fully aware of the plan, and there’s only a hint that maybe she thinks her friends are still alive. And so, in the film, Elphaba delivers the line “I know she can never know that we’re alive.” It’s left at that as the couple walks into the sunset, but Fox thinks that’s the way into a third movie if it were to take place.
“I would be honored if anyone asked me to be a part of Wicked 3,” Fox said. “And I think that they are such beloved characters that seeing what they were up to, I mean, to me, the moment when Elphaba says in voiceover, ‘I know she can never know that we’re alive.’ I was like, somebody feels like they’re asking to find out that they are alive at some point. That feels really like, ‘Hello.’ That’s spicy to me. I love the idea that we could meet up with them again someday.”
Which again, isn’t currently scheduled to happen, but one never knows. That goes especially if you look back at the original source material. Before the movies, most of us knew Wicked as this wildly successful Broadway show. But the show was based on a 1995 book by Gregory Maguire, which itself had multiple sequels. The musical already differed quite significantly from Maguire’s books, but the source material does exist with plenty of ideas of where Elphaba and Glinda go next.
Do you want to see these two Ozian legends reunited in a third film? Or is two a good place to leave it? Let us know below.
Hey, this is Jon M. Chu and I’m the director of “Wicked: For Good.” ♫ “The truth is not a thing of fact or reason.” ♫ Here is the great Jeff Goldblum playing the Wizard and and Ariana Grande playing Glinda the Good and Cynthia Erivo playing Elphaba. In this scene, we really wanted them to be together so that Glinda could convince Elphaba to stay with the Wizard. And throughout this whole song, they are singing live. ♫ “A man’s called a traitor.” ♫ Also this — when he goes up the contraption — that is actually Jeff Goldblum going up on a rig to fly up in the air. He had to train for that. So he does his own stunts in this movie. Now this shot, this all doesn’t cut. She had to hide behind that drape. And she’s literally right now in real time, running in the hallway to get back to that bookcase. So this is all in real time. We had five engineers, remote control engineers, controlling to the rhythm, the eyeballs, and then she’s running in, making sure she doesn’t slip in the back. And then Ari comes out. ♫ “They call him wonderful.” “So I am wonderful.” “And is so wonderful. It’s part of his name.” ♫ So we haven’t cut yet all the way from before. And I know that when we made this staircase, that’s something that Nathan Crowley, our production designer, and Alice Brooks, our cinematographer, really wanted this red staircase to nod to the old classic musicals. And in another nod to old classic storytelling, we wanted this moment where Glinda could take Elphaba to the side and say the same thing she said in movie one, which is like, imagine what we could do together. And aren’t you tired of running. And then this magical Disneyland ride occurs. I always thought the Peter Pan ride was a great nod in this, that it’s all created by a person, and yet it could still feel that childlike wonder. I really needed Cynthia to go back into a childlike state in order to remember what it felt like to be part of a system, and how nice it feels sometimes to be comfortable, even though what she’s done is more courageous and feels uncomfortable. This is actually, the contraption that they’re on is a huge major engineering feat. We literally built a ride. They’re actually being lifted from the bottom. So we have tracks on the bottom. They’re not being hung from the top. And it went all around the room. This room is actually connected to the throne room with the big Wizard head. So you could walk from this side all the way to the front, which is what you’re about to see as they go through these drapes. I always wanted to see what it’s like to be behind the drape and in front of the drape. That classic idea. And when they walked in here, I wanted to feel like that wonder going into almost a carousel like place. And even as they spin, it’s almost dizzying. And in a weird way, it’s almost like that “Titanic” shot with Leo where they’re spinning right before all the tragedy occurs. “Trust me, it’s fun!”
Scarlett Spears as young Glinda in Wicked: For GoodCredit: courtesy Universal Pictures
While many little girls might choose their favorite Disney princess based on magical powers or glittering gowns, child actress and Orlando native Scarlett Spears has a different reason for loving Tiana from The Princess and the Frog.
“She’s a hard-working girl,” Spears tells Orlando Weekly during a recent interview. “I love how she cooks food and gives it out to people. She’s not just dancing around and stuff.”
Spears’ choice of princess mirrors the kind of talent she’s bringing to the film and TV industry herself. At just 8 years old, she’s already putting in serious work. Since 2022, she has played the daughter of a mob boss on the ABC soap opera General Hospital. Earlier this year, she starred as the kid version of Dora the Explorer in the Paramount+ live-action movie Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado.
While Spears values substance over sparkle, she’s not shy about enjoying a little — or a lot — of glitter. And her latest role may be the glitteriest one yet.
On Nov. 21, Spears will make her big-screen debut in the highly anticipated sequel Wicked: For Good. In the film, she plays the young version of Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. Adult Glinda is played by Ariana Grande, who earned an Academy Award nomination for the same role in the first movie.
The audition for Young Glinda wasn’t a typical one, Spears says. She went in without knowing which movie she was auditioning for. While Hollywood studios often keep blockbuster projects under wraps, it was a new experience for her.
“It was a surprise,” she says. “They were giving me random things to do to see if I could follow instructions.”
Luckily, Spears, who is in the third grade and homeschooled, had seen the first Wicked. One of her favorite scenes is when Grande sings “Popular.” She had also seen the original 1939 classic, The Wizard of Oz. At first, she didn’t understand why the movie started in black and white.
“I asked my mom, and she said, ‘You’ll see, just wait,’” Spears says. “Then I got to see the colors. It was so beautiful. I wish I could go there myself.”
Spears was with her mother and grandmother when her agent told her she had booked the role of Young Glinda. Emotions quickly took over.
“We were so happy and excited that I started crying,” she says. “I cried a lot!”
Her sensitive nature didn’t surprise her grandmother, Nina Reyes, who says Spears was raised to be humble and thankful for everything that comes her way — big or small.
“She’s a very sweet child,” Reyes says. “What she’s accomplished is amazing.”
Although Spears didn’t work directly with Grande on set, she did get to meet her and pose for photos inside Glinda’s iconic floating pink bubble. On Spears’ Instagram page, which is run by her mother, there is a photo of Spears and Grande — both wearing fancy tiaras — sharing a big hug.
It was a memorable moment for Spears. She had always been a big fan of Grande, from her role on the Nickelodeon sitcom Sam & Cat to listening to some of her favorite Grande songs like “thank u, next” and “7 Rings.”
“I didn’t really think I was going to meet her, [but] then I saw this pink, poofy dress … and she popped out!” Spears says. “She is so nice and so beautiful.”
Some of Spears’ favorite moments on set included working with director Jon Chu and making friends with the other kids in the movie. She also loved wearing her pink dress and blonde wig. Carrying a wand helped her step fully into Glinda’s charming character. The role wasn’t hard to inhabit, she says, because she shares many traits with Glinda.
“We kind of have the same personality,” Spears says. “We’re both funny and bubbly, and we both love everything pink!”
When audiences see Wicked: For Good, Spears hopes they connect with her character and see how Glinda’s journey to becoming The Good Witch of the North began.
“It’s funny and happy, and you can see what Glinda’s childhood was like,” she says. “You can see what makes her who she is. It’s just so magical.”
(Wicked: For Good premieres in theaters nationwide on Friday, Nov. 21.)
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