Wicked: For Good Beats Disney’s Controversial 2025 Musical at the Box Office in a Single Weekend

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Disney is expected to finish 2025 strongly with the upcoming releases of Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash. However, the company experienced a surprisingly slow year at the box office. Lilo & Stitch was the only Hollywood movie this year to earn over $1 billion worldwide, while several Disney films didn’t perform as well as hoped. Snow White was a particularly disappointing release, earning only $87.2 million in the US and $205.6 million worldwide – an amount that Wicked: For Good surpassed in just one weekend.

The movie Wicked: For Good had a record-breaking opening weekend, earning $147 million in the U.S. and over $220 million worldwide. This impressive debut immediately placed it among the year’s top 15 highest-grossing films in the United States, suggesting it will be very successful during the upcoming holiday season.

Disney’s Turning Things Around at the Box Office After a Tough Year

It’s surprising how quickly Disney’s success at the box office has shifted. Just a few years ago, in 2019, Disney seemed unstoppable, releasing seven movies that each earned over $1 billion worldwide. However, things looked very different in 2023, and the live-action remake of Snow White became a symbol of the studio’s recent struggles. The film faced controversy before its release and received largely negative reviews, which kept audiences away. While Snow White wasn’t the only Disney movie to underperform that year, it highlighted the challenges the studio was facing. Disney’s live-action remakes haven’t always been critically acclaimed, but they’ve usually been financially successful. In fact, five of them have earned over $1 billion, and The Jungle Book came close with $966.5 million.

Disney is showing signs of recovery after some recent disappointments with Marvel movies, a Pixar film, and the new Tron. The upcoming Zootopia 2 is expected to be a huge hit over Thanksgiving, potentially earning over $125 million domestically during the five-day holiday. It’s also predicted to boost Hollywood’s presence in China, which is great news for the film industry. Plus, December brings the release of Avatar: Fire and Ash, which could become the year’s biggest blockbuster. The previous Avatar films made over $2 billion worldwide, and the third film is expected to perform just as well.

Disney appears to have taken some important lessons from this year and is adjusting its plans to prevent a repeat of recent setbacks. The disappointing performance of the live-action Snow White caused them to temporarily halt production on a remake of Tangled, though that project is now back on track with Scarlett Johansson. While Lilo & Stitch proved there’s still interest in Disney remakes, the studio likely needs to be more careful about which animated films they choose to recreate. Interestingly, the most successful remake was based on a more recent original movie.

Disney’s upcoming movies in 2026 look promising. The live-action Moana remake is expected to be a major summer blockbuster, and if films like Moana, Toy Story 5, The Mandalorian & Grogu, and Avengers: Doomsday are all successful, it could mark a strong comeback for the studio.

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2025-11-26 18:41