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Universal Pictures’ two-part Wicked gamble continues to defy gravity at the box office. Just a year after part one brought droves of audiences to movie theaters around the country, even more people bought opening weekend tickets to see the epic conclusion, Wicked: For Good. According to studio estimates on Sunday, Wicked: For Good earned $150 million from North American theaters in its first days in theaters and $226 million globally.
Not only is it the biggest opening ever for a Broadway musical adaptation, unseating the record set by the first film’s $112 million launch, it’s also the second biggest debut of the year behind A Minecraft Movie’s $162 million.
“The results are just fantastic,” said Jim Orr, who heads domestic distribution for Universal. “Some films can deliver a false positive when tickets go on sale early but these results speak for themselves.”
Universal began rolling out Wicked: For Good in theaters earlier this week, with previews on Monday ($6.1 million from 1,050 theaters) and Wednesday ($6.5 million from 2,300 theaters). By Friday it was playing in 4,115 North American locations and had raked in $68.6 million. IMAX showings accounted for $15.5 million, or 11%, of its domestic haul — a November record for the company.
IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond said in a statement that the strong market share shows “our momentum carries into demos and genres beyond our traditional core, including families.”As with the first film, women powered opening weekend, making up around 71% of ticket buyers according to PostTrak exit polls. Critics were somewhat mixed on the final chapter, but audiences weren’t: An overwhelming 83% of audiences said it was one they would “definitely recommend” to friends. As far as foot traffic is concerned, the box office tracker EntTelligence estimates that about 2 million more people came out for Wicked: For Good’s first weekend than for Wicked’s.
Jon M. Chu directed both Wicked films, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. The first film made over $758.7 million worldwide and received 10 Oscar nominations (winning two, for costume and production design). The question is how high Wicked: For Good can soar. Combined, the two films cost around $300 million to produce, not including marketing and promotion costs.
“The first film paved the way,” Orr said. “It’s really become a cultural event I think audiences are going to be flocking to theaters for quite some time to come.”
Two other films also opened in wide release this weekend, but further down on the charts behind a buffet of holdovers. Searchlight Pictures opened its Brendan Fraser film Rental Family in 1,925 theaters where it earned $3.3 million. The Finnish action film Sisu: Road to Revenge, a Sony release, also played in 2,222 theaters. It earned an estimated $2.6 million.
Second place went to Now You See Me: Now You Don’t with $9.1 million in its second weekend, followed by Predator: Badlands with $6.3 million in weekend three. The Running Man followed in fourth place with $5.8 million, down 65% from its debut last weekend.
Although this weekend the box office was more of a winner takes all scenario, Wicked: For Good’s success is vitally important for the exhibition industry as a whole as it enters the final weeks of the year.
“It sets up a very strong final homestretch of the year,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s head of marketplace trends.
After the slow fall season, the Thanksgiving blockbusters could not arrive soon enough. Early next week, Zootopia 2 enters the mix and is also expected to drive big crowds to the cineplex over the holiday break.
Thanksgiving is often one of the biggest moviegoing frames of the year, Dergarabedian said, and both Wicked 2 and Zootopia 2 will benefit. Last year Wicked, Moana 2 and Gladiator II helped power a record five-day frame.
The running domestic box office is currently hovering around $7.5 billion, according to Comscore. Before the pandemic, the annual box office would regularly hit $11 billion, but the post-pandemic goal has lessened to $9 billion. The big question now is whether titles like Wicked: For Good, Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash can push the industry over that threshold.
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1. Wicked: For Good, $150 million2. Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, $9.1 million3. Predator: Badlands, $6.3 million4. The Running Man, $5.8 million5. Rental Family, $3.3 million6. Sisu: Road to Revenge, $2.6 million7. Regretting You, $1.5 million8. Nuremberg, $1.2 million9. Black Phone 2, $1 million10. Sarah’s Oil, $711,542
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
It’s race day!
The Las Vegas Grand Prix 2025 is only hours away. The best of the best Formula 1 racers are gearing up to race across the Las Vegas Strip Circuit this Saturday (Nov. 22), which will begin at 11 p.m. ET. Yes, this is very late for East Coast viewers, but this gives international fans, especially folks in Europe a chance to watch.
Las Vegas Grand Prix 2025, at a Glance:
If you can’t make it out to Sin City for the Grand Prix, we’ve put together a guide for fans to watch the race right at home and online without cable. If you don’t want to miss out on McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri continue their head-to-head battle for first place, keep scrolling to see how you can watch Las Vegas Grand Prix 2025 on ESPN for free.
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For music fans, there’s also plenty of great musical performances happening all weekend in Vegas, including T-Pain, mgk and Zedd who is headlining the T-Mobile Zone at Sphere Stage.
How to Watch ESPN Online Without Cable
ESPN Unlimited is the official streaming platform for ESPN, and a subscription includes instant access to games and more exclusive content for $29.99 per month. You can save almost 17% off by purchasing an annual subscription for $299.99 per year. There is no free ESPN Unlimited trial, but it does include exclusive on-demand videos and access to content from what was formerly known as ESPN Insider.
In addition to live sports, ESPN Unlimited has original shows to stream on-demand, plus game recaps and analysis, a shorter version of NFL Primetime and full replays of historic NFL matchups.
To expand your savings and content offerings, currently, you can bundle ESPN Unlimited with Hulu and Disney+ for a single monthly price of just $29.99 per month for all three services for 12 months of streaming.
How to Watch ESPN Online Free
While ESPN Unlimited doesn’t currently offer a free trial, there are other streamers that offer ESPN online free. If you want access to ESPN and additional channels, you can take advantage of DirecTV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV and Fubo, which are all offering free trials or promos right now. Some of them can give you free access to ESPN for up to a week.
Here are all the ways to watch ESPN online, including ways to stream ESPN online for free.
DirecTV
DirecTV is offering a five-day free trial, which will let you watch ESPN and more for free. The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network is included in all of the streaming packages. In addition to unlimited DVR storage, you’ll get access to local channels and the ability to stream on as many devices as you want.
Sling TV
With prices starting at just $4.99 for a day pass, Sling TV includes ESPN with it Sling Orange and Sling Orange + Blue packages — which features dozens of channels that can be streamed on up to three devices at the same time. Sling Orange + Blue features FS1 and the NFL Network too
Please note: Sling TV’s pricing and channel availability depends on your local TV market.
Fubo
Fubo is another great option you can take advantage of to watch ESPN online. The streamer offers a seven-day free trial that’ll give you access to ESPN free and more than 240 live TV channels. The service offers a promo that’ll get you up to $30 off the first month, which can get you access to ESPN and more for as low as $54.99 (reg. $84.99 per month).
Hulu + Live TV
For the most content options, Hulu + Live TV gives you access to the entire Hulu library in addition to more than 95 live TV channels — including ESPN for just $82.99 per month.
And, unlike the rest of the options, you can also expand your content library by bundling Hulu + Live TV with Disney+ and ESPN Unlimited. You’ll not only have all of the Hulu library to watch, but also exclusive and original programming available exclusively on ESPN Unlimited.
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
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De La Soul is a New York City group and a Billboard chart topper.
The group formed back in 1988 and forged a path forward, armed with unique samples and eccentric lyrics that set the trio up for imminent success. De La Soul came out hot with the release of its debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, in 1989, an offering that became an immediate classic, so much so that the track “Me Myself And I” landed on the Billboard Hot 100, scoring a peak position of 34, and spent 17 weeks on the chart.
With all this in mind, it’s safe to say that De La Soul has a unique legacy, and Levi’s is here to celebrate it with the launch of a three-piece collection. The collaborative collection dropped Nov. 20 and aims at celebrate the group’s greatest hits. Each tee retails for $40 and is available to shop right now on the brand’s website.
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De La Soul Band T-shirt
A white graphic tee.
De La Soul Band T-shirt
A black graphic tee.
Three men, three tees, all repping greatness. You’ve got a plain white short-sleeve tee emblazoned with a print of the trio’s faces on the front and “This is My De La Soul T-Shirt” scrawled on the back in colorful lettering. There’s also a black short-sleeve tee honoring the single “The Magic Number” from the trio’s 3 Feet High and Rising album, featuring colorful graphics such as star bursts and floral motifs, as seen on the album art. The second white tee references the group’s track “Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)” from its 1991 studio album, De La Soul Is Dead, featuring a phone graphic on the front and back.
Each tee is a crewneck crafted of 100% cotton, making the styles breathable and comfy. The fit on every piece is boxy and relaxed. The graphics really set these pieces apart from Levi’s usual offerings, given they’re so animated and colorful. If you’re on the hunt for a graphic tee with personality, then these might just be your best bet, especially for the price. These tees also make a great gift for the die-hard De La Soul fan in your life.
De La Soul Band T-shirt
A white graphic tee.
“From the very beginning, De La Soul have redefined what hip-hop could be – playful, experimental and unapologetically original,” said Leo Gamboa, vp of collaborations at Levi’s, in a press release. “This collection honors their groundbreaking approach to music and style, bringing together the bold, colorful energy of their iconic albums with the authentic, vintage-inspired aesthetic that Levi’s® is known for.”
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
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Want to watch Sling TV, but on the fence about fully committing to a monthly subscription? The popular streaming platform is now offering affordable ways to tune into your favorite live TV programming without the pressure of long-term commitment. Introducing day, week and weekend passes, Sling is now offering users a way to opt into the streaming service with instant, 24-hour access to live TV, sports and entertainment for a very affordable $1 (normally $4.99), which means you save up to 80% off.
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The Sling $1 Day Pass deal is a limited-time offer running now until November 30, so act fast before the deal is gone forever.
The new passes will have three subscription offerings, highlighted by its day pass package, giving fans the ultimate flexibility to watch what they want, when they want, and then opt out. Here a breakdown for each offering:
Day Pass: pay $4.99 for an instant 24-hour access period to Sling TV. Ideal for tentpole live events, key sports games, trending shows, or awards nights.
Weekend Pass: pay $9.99 for weekend access to Sling TV. This pass is for those looking lounge and binge watch their favorite shows or catch the lineup of football games all weekend long. Sit back and relax knowing Sling TV has you covered.
Week Pass: pay $14.99 for weekly access to Sling TV. Pick and choose based on a week’s worth of upcoming programming.
“This launch is about putting control back in the hands of the fans, whether it’s tuning in for college football, professional sports, award shows, or a spontaneous movie night, all without having to sign a long-term, binding contract,” said Seth Van Sickel, Senior Vice President, Product and Operations, Sling TV in a press release. “With college football just around the corner, our new Day Pass offering is all consumers need to win on game day, for just $4.99.”
Along with the launch of Day Pass, subscribers can also add Sling Extras, add-on channel packages. These add-ons offer a way to customize your channel lineup by category. Current Sling Extra packages include, Sports Extra, News Extra, Entertainment Extra, Hollywood Extra, Lifestyle Extra, Heartland Extra and Kids Extra. Fans can add Sling Extras to their passes for $1 for Day Pass, $2 for Weekend Pass and $3 for Week Pass.
Browse and sign up for each new Sling pass in the link below.
Trending on Billboard So far, we’ve gotten dribs and drabs of casting news about director Sam Mendes’ ambitious four-part Beatles biopic series, The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event. We know that the band will be played by Paul Mescal (Paul McCartney), Harris Dickinson (John Lennon), Barry Keoghan (Ringo Starr), and Joseph Quinn (George Harrison). Explore […]
On Nov. 21, 2008, Twilight, based on the book of the same name by Stephenie Meyer, debuted in theaters. The vampire-meets-high-school-girl love story went on to earn $69.6 million in its first weekend, for a total domestic haul of $195 million during its run in theaters, including a 2010 and 2025 re-release. (It made a worldwide […]
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Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are saying goodbye to Wicked, but they’ll always be changed for good by the franchise.
On Friday (Nov. 21) — the day Wicked: For Good finally hit theaters worldwide — both leading ladies shared emotional posts marking the end of an era. On Instagram, Erivo began by sharing a carousel of photos of herself in her green Elphaba skin and witch hat on the set of the musical duology.
“I could write you an essay, a poem, Shakespearean prose, to describe what this journey has meant to me, what lessons this time has taught me, bought me,” the Tony winner wrote in her caption. “I could try to give a metric to the love I have felt and experienced. I could give a number to the stories I have heard.”
“The truth is the numbers are too small and the words are not enough,” she continued. “So I’ll simply say this. “Take my hand and walk with me to the end of this road paved with gold and hopefully, the things that I’ve found, might find you too. Thank you for letting me be your Elphaba.”
A few hours later, Grande shared her own roundup of photos from the Wicked set — complete with many pink items of clothing — and gushed about her love for her character in the project. “thank you, my sweet Glinda, for everything,” she wrote. “i will love you always … Wicked For Good is out now.”
It’s certainly an emotional day for both actresses and Wicked fans all over the world. The cast and crew spent years bringing the Broadway musical to life, with Erivo and the R.E.M. Beauty founder first landing the roles of Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, back in 2021. They’d spend the next two years or so rehearsing and shooting on set in London, wrapping in early 2024.
After finishing the films, the cast would take the world by storm with an almost inescapable press tour for the first Wicked, which premiered in November 2024 and shattered box-office records before winning Oscars for best costume and production design. Though the promo cycle for part two this year was far more lowkey, Erivo and Grande still spent much of the past month traveling all over the world for international Wicked: For Good screenings and red carpets in São Paulo, Paris, London and Singapore.
“We knew immediately that we were stepping into something that was quite special because it already has this beautiful legacy behind it,” Erivo told Seth Meyers on Thursday (Nov. 20) of herself and her castmates.
“i will never forget even a minute of my year(s) with [Glinda],” Grande wrote on Instagram last year. “Or you. or my Cyn. permanently and preferably intertwined.”
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The filming of the two Wicked movies sounds like an exhausting, exhilarating and super-intense adventure. It’s been clear watching the cast stump for the just-released sequel, Wicked: For Good, that the actors and actresses in the film got super close and realized they were a part of something that was a cultural event, as well as a life-changing moment for all of them.
“We knew immediately that we were stepping into something that was quite special because it already has this beautiful legacy behind it,” Cynthia Erivo told Seth Meyers on his late night show on Thursday (Nov. 20). After begging off red carpet interviews earlier this week because of a hoarse throat — with co-star Ariana Grande also offering to stay mute in solidarity — Erivo said the cast and crew knew that the had to do the story “justice” given how beloved the original Broadway production, and the 1995 book it was based on, are to the many fans of the story around the world.
“And it seems like you all genuinely like each other,” Meyers observed. “We do, yeah… no we really like each other,” Erivo said with a wicked, eyes-narrowed look at the camera after Meyers suggested that it might just be good acting, or a combo of that and genuine affection.
Noting that earlier in the week another Wicked: For Good cast member, Jonathan Bailey, told him that he couldn’t stop crying while watching the movie with his niece, Meyers asked how Erivo reacted to seeing part two on the screen. “The first time I watched it… this happens every time — I watched the first movie and I couldn’t see anything. I was really overwhelmed,” Erivo said of last year’s blockbuster first part of the two-part epic movie musical.
“Then I watched it a second time and then I can finally take it in,” she said. “This time around again, I was lie, ‘This is great. I love this.’ But I knew I wasn’t taking it in properly. The second time I saw it, I wept. Like, fell to my knees and wept, couldn’t stop crying.”
Meyers also asked Erivo what it feels like to suddenly be a reliable Halloween meme, posting a series of pics of young girls and women dressed as her green-skinned character Elphaba. He then busted out a much-shared snap of the ultimate tribute: a fan dressed as one of Erivo’s signature long, bedazzled fingernails. Asked if she’d seen the photo, Erivo said it’s been shown to her “100 million times,” and praised the “wonderful person” in the towering costume for their unrelenting commitment to the bit. “I was elated,” she said of her initial reaction to the outfit she said totally nailed it.
Wicked: For Good is in theaters now.
Watch Erivo on Late Night below.
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On the same day in which he accused six Democratic lawmakers of “seditious behavior” that he said was “punishable by death” and shared someone else’s post that called for the Congress members’ hanging, Donald Trump once again lashed out at his late night nemesis Jimmy Kimmel.
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It started with Trump’s Truth Social post on Thursday (Nov. 20) in which he asked why “ABC Fake News” keeps Kimmel, “a man with NO TALENT and VERY POOR TELEVISION RATINGS, on the air?,” claiming the network’s (or Kimmel’s?) coverage of him is “totally biased.” He ended by demanding, “Get the bum of the air!!!”
The president, ensnared in particularly bruising media cycle whipped up by the back-and-forth over the release of the files related to convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein — in which Trump is named more than 1,500 times, more than anyone else — appeared to be spun up again about Kimmel’s relentless jokes about the two men’s close ties.
So, on Thursday night’s show Kimmel doubled-down once again, sloughing off the latest attack from the leader of the free world on his late night comedy show. Kimmel opened his monologue by admitting that he’s “lost count” at this point of how many times Trump has called for him to be pulled off the air, revealing that he woke up that morning to his wife telling him that he was on Trump’s mind again.
“She’s got her phone. She goes, ‘Um, Trump tweeted you should be fired again,’” Kimmel said she told him. “I was like, ‘Oh.’ And then I went downstairs and made bagels for the kids… Talk about a snowflake, this guy. Every five weeks, he flips out and wants me fired. If you got this many threats from a neighbor, you’d have no problem getting a restraining order. The judge would be like, ‘Yeah, sounds like the guy’s nuts.’”
Kimmel read the president’s post to boos from the audience, noting that the late night missive went up at 12:49 a.m., just 11 minutes after his show ended on the East Coast. “Which is nice, he watches us live. Hi, Mr. President! How are you? Thanks for watching us on TV instead of on YouTube, we appreciate that. And I’ll tell you, it’s viewers like you who keep us on the air, ironically,” he joked.
And then Kimmel likely heaped more fuel to Trump’s fire by saying, “It’s also sweet that, even in the middle of the biggest sex scandal in the history of the American presidency, he takes precious time on the toilet to post about our show. Keeps saying we have bad ratings. And you should listen to him, because if anyone knows about bad ratings, it’s that guy,” he added, before rolling out a montage of clips with reports about Trump’s plunging polling numbers.
Trump’s latest broadside against Kimmel comes after ABC’s decision in September to pull Kimmel off the air for a few days after Trump’s FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, issued a warning to stations carrying the show following criticism about Kimmel’s comments about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Back on the air the next week, Kimmel continued tweaking the president in his nightly monologues and it appears to have again incensed Trump, who has also called for other late night hosts to be fired in seeming pique over their jabs at his administration.
Kimmel pulled not punches again on Thursday, laying down the gauntlet, saying, “Mr. President, I admire your tenacity. If you’re watching tonight, which I presume you are, how about this: I’ll go when you go, OK?,” before adding another teasingly disparaging nickname to his endless pile of alternate titles for the commander in chief. “We’ll be a team. Let’s ride off into the sunset together like Butch Cassidy and the Suntan Kid. And until then, if I may borrow a phrase from you: Quiet, piggy.”
The latter was a pointed reference to the insult Trump hurled at a reporter on Air Force One after she asked him a question about Epstein, with Trump snapping at Bloomberg News journalist Catherine Lucey, “Quiet! Quiet, piggy!“
After swift passage in the House and Senate, Trump signed legislation on Wednesday ordering the Justice Department to release documents related to Epstein. That came after multiple attempts by Trump to kill the legislation before changing course following the defection of several Republican House members urging their release, including such typically MAGA faithful stalwarts as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert.
The Justice Department now has 30 days to release the files, which Kimmel suggested could make for a “very merry Christmas indeed. I have a prediction for the next 30 days: I think we’re going to see Trump do some of the craziest s–t ever.”
Watch Kimmel’s monologue below.
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We’re just one day away from the release of Wicked: For Good.
Throughout the month of November thus far, it’s been all about Wicked mania in preparation for the film. Many brands have been dropping Wicked-themed products left and right for fans of the magic franchise, hoping to tide them over before they head back to the wonderful world of Oz.
Now Yoto, the parent-owned and operated children’s audio tech company, is getting in on all the fun with the release of their Wicked: The Soundtrack Card for $11.99, discounted from $14.99. This soundtrack card can be used with the brand’s Yoto Player, sold separately, giving your little ones control of their tunes. If your child is just as big of a fan of Wicked as everyone else is, this Yoto soundtrack card and a separate Yoto Player would make a great gift for the holidays.
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Wicked: The Soundtrack
$11.99
$14.99
20% off
Yoto soundtrack card.
The soundtrack card features 56 minutes of pure fun, including tracks from the first half of the Wicked franchise along with tracks from Wicked: For Good sung by the likes or Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo and Jonathan Bailey, among others. You’ve got hit tracks that have made their way onto the Billboard charts, like “Defying Gravity,” “No One Mourns the Wicked,” “The Wizard and I” and “Popular.”
The Yoto Player is kind of like a kid-friendly boombox, made for tiny hands and ears ages 3 to 12+. The player currently comes in two sizes: Yoto Player (3rd Generation) for $81.99 and the more compact Yoto Mini for $63.99. Both are on sale at the time of writing. While there are some differences in the sizes, the biggest thing to note is that the 3rd Generation produces acoustically engineered stereo sound, while the mini produces mono sound, meaning a single-channel audio format. Stereo uses two channels to create a room-filling kind of sound, giving your audio a more dynamic feel. If you or your child are a stickler for good audio, go for the 3rd Gen Yoto Player.
Yoto Player 3rd Generation
$81.99
$109.99
25% off
A Yoto audio player.
Both players allow children to play the Wicked-themed soundtrack card, along with audiobooks and so much more. The 3rd Gen is best for jamming out at home, while the mini is best for listening to your favorite tracks on the go. The 3rd Gen is equipped with more technical features than its tiny counterpart, including a nightlight, clock and even a room thermistor.
The battery life on the bigger Yoto Player is also larger, lasting up to 24 hours on a single charge, while the mini will last up to 14 hours. Both products can be hooked up to wired headphones so your kids can listen in privacy. You can also choose the color of your Yoto device on the website.
