How ‘Wicked’ and Other Recent Hits Set Up 2025 for Boffo Box Office

Though the 2024 box office may be failing to catch up to 2023’s numbers, “Wicked” is the latest film to defy gravity and make a case for this year’s success.

Universal’s overdue adaptation of the Broadway staple raked in $113 million domestically over the weekend, the third-best debut of the year behind “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Inside Out 2.”

Both films went on to earn well over $600 million stateside and became billion-dollar grossers overall, an optimistic sign for “Wicked” as it heads into the extended Thanksgiving weekend.

While “Wicked” will square off against Disney’s “Moana 2” starting Wednesday, its achievement at the box office isn’t its numbers alone.

“Wicked” is also the biggest opening ever for a film adapted from the stage, well ahead of the $31 million made by 2014’s “Into the Woods.” This tracks with its neighbors on the 2024 leaderboard. The third “Deadpool” overtook 2019’s “Joker” as the highest-grossing R-rated film ever, on top of resurrecting the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s power after multiple MCU films missed their mark last year, while “Inside Out 2” similarly ended a drought of underperforming animated titles, including recent Pixar efforts, to become the biggest animated film ever at the box office.

Even if 2024 is still more than 10% down from 2023’s numbers, it’s hard to see this year as anything but a victory for theaters as it draws to a close, especially when films like “Moana 2” and “Mufasa: The Lion King” are still on the schedule.

Then there’s 2025.

At least four musical films are on the docket for next year, including “Wicked’s” highly anticipated second part next Thanksgiving. While that follow-up is the sole Broadway adaptation from the major studios, there is also Paramount’s still-untitled film from “South Park” duo Trey Parker and Matt Stone. They haven’t detailed what the project is, but given their track record with musicals including “The Book of Mormon,” and Kendrick Lamar’s involvement as a producer, they could very well be returning to the genre.

If not, Paramount is still getting in on animation and musicals with a new “Smurfs” outing after Sony’s modest success with a non-musical “Smurfs” film in 2011, plus another “Spongebob Squarepants” feature closing 2025.

Otherwise, Disney and Universal are following “Inside Out 2” with a host of high-profile animated efforts like sequels to “Zootopia” and “The Bad Guys,” respectively, plus “Elio,” the next film from Pixar. With three new MCU films accompanying its animated offerings, Disney certainly has an edge on the 2025 calendar as it nears the end of 2024 as the year’s obvious winner.

The lack of films on this year’s calendar in the wake of 2023’s strikes got the year off to a bad start. But with a turnaround continuing beyond the summer, it’s clear “Wicked” is the latest sign the box office is enjoying another good year after the pandemic.