Domestic and international audiences alike are absolutely mesmerized by Universal's adaptation of the Broadway play, Wicked. Furthermore, the decision to split the film into two parts is certainly paying off big for the studio.
After the first film grossed $759 million worldwide from a production budget of $150 million in 2024, the 2025 sequel has opened to a $226 million global launch.
The exact domestic to international split breaks down to $150 million in North America and $76 million from international territories.
With such a strong opening at the box office, talk has already turned to the possibility of a third installment, which of course, would be a remake of the Wizard of Oz.
WB-subsidiary New Line has a remake in development from Nicole Kassell, director of the TV show Watchmen. At the same time, Warner Bros. also has a remake in the works from Black-ish creator Kenya Barris (which actually sounds closer to Diana Ross and Michael Jackson's The Wiz) .
But Universal doesn't have its own project in development, and given these box office numbers, that should change very quickly.
The original 1900 L. Frank Baum Wizard of Oz novel is part of the public domain, but Warner Bros. owns the copyright to the 1939 film adaptation, meaning anything original to the film and not part of the book, is owned by WB.
These elements would include the ruby slippers (they were silver in the book), the specific look of the characters from the movie, and the movie-exclusive 'It was all a dream" ending.