Wicked: For Good’s Box Office Results One Divisive 113-Year-Long Movie Trend Is Here For Good

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Okay, so the box office numbers are in for ‘Wicked: For Good,’ and they pretty much confirm something we’ve been seeing a lot lately: the trend of splitting big stories into two movies is here to stay. Honestly, when they announced they were turning the Broadway hit ‘Wicked’ – which, as a reminder, gives a fresh take on ‘The Wizard of Oz’ – into a two-part film, it definitely raised some eyebrows. After all, the stage show is a single, complete piece, so it felt like a surprising decision.

Both Wicked and Wicked: For Good have generally received positive reviews, though some critics have raised concerns. Early box office numbers for Wicked: For Good suggest the film could be very successful, even though the idea of adapting the story in this way has been controversial with some viewers.

Wicked: For Good’s Early Box Office Reports Already Show The Value Of Splitting Movies Into Two Parts

The new movie Wicked: For Good just came out, and early numbers suggest it’s doing very well financially. Variety reports the film is expected to earn $226 million worldwide during its opening weekend, which is a significant increase compared to the original Wicked‘s $162.4 million debut.

This report indicates that the new movie, Wicked: For Good, is on track to surpass the box office earnings of the original Wicked, and clearly demonstrates the financial advantages of telling the story in two parts. A single live-action Wicked film likely wouldn’t have achieved a $388.4 million opening weekend, but that’s what the two-part series is projected to earn combined, proving that splitting the story was a smart financial decision.

Unless ticket sales for Wicked: For Good decline significantly after its opening weekend, or the initial financial projections prove inaccurate, the Wicked movies are on track to earn more than twice the revenue of the original Wicked. This success explains why other film series are likely to follow suit and split their stories into multiple films – Wicked isn’t the first to consider this strategy.

Dividing Movies Into Parts Has A Long History Of Being Financially Lucrative

It’s easy to remember that Avengers: Endgame was initially planned as Avengers: Infinity War Part 2. Recent films like Dune have taken a similar approach, splitting the story into multiple releases to best fit the narrative, instead of forcing the content of each book into a single movie.

We’ve seen this happen before with films like The Hobbit, which was split into three movies despite being based on a single book. The Lord of the Rings, Breaking Dawn, Kill Bill, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows all received similar treatment. In fact, the last two Deathly Hallows films together earned over $2 billion worldwide.

This technique isn’t new, though. We can see early examples of it as far back as the 1920s, like in the two-part fantasy film Die Nibelungen.

This approach to formatting echoes the early days of cinema, when films were often released as chapters or serials. This encouraged viewers to return week after week to follow the complete story, a practice that began as early as the 1910s with series like 1912’s What Happened To Mary? and 1913’s Fantômas.

Why Splitting Movies Like Wicked Into Two Does Make Sense

While the success of splitting the story of Wicked into two films demonstrates the potential financial gains, this practice seems driven by storytelling needs just as much. Complex narratives, particularly those with many locations or requiring moments of slower development, sometimes benefit from being divided into multiple installments.

This is particularly true when movies are based on existing stories like books, comics, or plays—as with the upcoming Wicked films. Staying true to the original material and preserving its subtle details often means the movie needs to be longer to do it justice.

It’s still too early to know exactly how much money Wicked: For Good will make, but early box office numbers suggest the decision to split the story into two movies was a smart financial move. This likely won’t be the last time we see studios use this two-part approach to maximize profits.

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2025-11-25 16:58