Wicked: For Good is now playing in theaters, and as we head into Thanksgiving next weekend, word of mouth will be crucial in deciding whether the sequel has staying power at the North American box office.
The movie has 71% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a drop from Wicked's 88% score. However, fans have already chimed in and awarded it 96% on the Popcornmeter, so it likely won't surprise you that it's been given an "A" CinemaScore.
As always, we'll remind you that CinemaScore is a market research firm that surveys audience reactions to newly released movies.
After attending opening night screenings, moviegoers rate films on an A+ to F scale, providing insights into audience satisfaction. Widely used in the film industry, CinemaScore helps gauge the initial reception of movies and influences box office predictions based on audience feedback.
An "A" is on par with Wicked and Barbie, and matches a couple of filmmaker Jon M. Chu's previous movies, Crazy Rich Asians and In the Heights. Compared to other popular musical adaptations, Wicked: For Good has the same CinemaScore as The Phantom of the Opera and West Side Story.
Wicked: For Good's CinemaScore does bode well for the movie's chances of box office success, and it's likely to end up being one of 2025's biggest hits.
During a recent interview with Deadline, Wicked and Wicked: For Good writer Dana Fox opened up on the sequel's deleted scenes and why one key sequence had to be left on the cutting room floor.
"I don’t think there’s anything that I wish we hadn’t cut because everything we cut, I felt we cut for exactly the right reasons. There are some beautiful things I’m sure will be in the deleted scenes. Perhaps, there is a scene that I don’t know if it will be included. There was a scene between Fiyero and Glinda that we cut in which they kissed; it was romantic and beautiful, but a little too passionate."
"Seeing that made it too hard to watch him make the choice he makes to be with Elphaba and made it too hard to make it OK that Elphaba ran off with him. It was too real that he and Glinda were actually feeling something together."
"It was like a feeling that he really did love her, which he does care about Glinda a lot, don’t get me wrong. But he likes her in a different way. But this scene was too romantic, so it was like, 'Oh, we can’t know that because then our brains will explode when he doesn’t choose her in the end. And then we’ll hate Elphaba, Glinda and Fiyero.' So, I think it was a good cut because it was too adorable that you simply couldn’t handle it."
Last year’s global cinematic cultural sensation, which became the most successful Broadway film adaptation of all time, now reaches its epic, electrifying, emotional conclusion in Wicked: For Good.
Directed once again by award-winning director Jon M. Chu and starring the spectacular returning cast, led by Academy Award-nominated superstars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, the final chapter of the untold story of the witches of Oz begins with Elphaba and Glinda estranged and living with the consequences of their choices.
Wicked: For Good is now playing in theaters.