'Wicked: For Good' Expected to Become This Year's Top Box Office Hit!

The Hollywood musical film 〈Wicked: For Good〉 is making a box office splash with the highest opening performance of the year in North America.

According to the U.S. box office tracking service 'Box Office Mojo', 〈Wicked: For Good〉 opened on the 21st in 4,115 theaters across North America, earning $68.68 million in ticket sales on its opening day. This surpasses the previous record of $57.11 million set by 〈Minecraft: The Movie〉 for this year's releases.

The opening day box office figures include revenue from two preview screenings held earlier in the week, making a simple comparison of the opening day's earnings difficult. However, with the Thanksgiving holiday approaching next week, strong box office momentum is expected to continue.

Industry experts predict that based on advance ticket sales, the total earnings for the first week through the 23rd will reach $151.5 million in North America (approximately 223 billion won) and $228 million worldwide (approximately 335.6 billion won). Hollywood trade publications 'Variety' and 'Deadline' reported that these figures exceed the North American earnings of the previous installment 〈Wicked〉 which earned $112.5 million, marking the highest record for a film based on a Broadway musical.

This sequel to 〈Wicked〉 received somewhat mixed reviews from critics compared to its predecessor, but it achieved the same 'A' grade in audience satisfaction surveys conducted by the market research firm CinemaScore, proving its popularity with the public.