Wicked Sequel Soars with $30.8 Million in Previews

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The musical sequel to Wicked has cast a spell at the box office, earning $30.8 million in previews. This figure marks the largest pre-opening take of the year.

The reported earnings come with a notable caveat. Typically, box office previews gross are counted only from Thursday showings. However, Universal Pictures opted for an early rollout of the film. On Monday, fan screenings sponsored by Amazon Prime accounted for $6.1 million, and an additional $6.5 million came from Wednesday screenings.

During the traditional Thursday previews, the film secured $18.2 million, boosted by double screenings of both Wicked and its companion show, For Good.

The previous record holder for preview earnings was ‘Barbie‘, which made $22.5 million in Thursday previews and went on to earn $125 million in its opening weekend.

This highly anticipated sequel to last year’s pink-and-green phenomenon is anticipated to gross between $150 million and $180 million this weekend, potentially breaking records for box office debuts. As of now, the title of the biggest debut remains with Warner Bros.