The Wicked Witches Got Big-Dogged at the Box Office Once Again

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Everything that once was will be again. That’s not a lyric from any of the songs from Wicked: For Good, but it does describe — so far — the MFL narrative for both halves of the Wicked cinematic story. Last year, Wicked debuted with a monster opening weekend, then backed it up over the Thanksgiving holiday with a huge second weekend … only to get big-dogged by a new animated sequel. Last year, it was Moana 2; this year it’s the sly fox and sunny bunny of Zootopia 2. That means Wicked: For Good didn’t pick up further bonus points for finishing at No. 1 — but thanks to $270 million cumulative after two weeks, nobody with the film on their roster is crying too hard. That said, Wicked: For Good’s $93 million second weekend is down from its predecessor’s $118 million second weekend last year, which is especially notable since both Moana 2 and Gladiator II did much bigger business last year than Zootopia 2 and the (distant) third-place-finishing Now You See Me, Now You Don’t. Since Wicked: For Good isn’t faring as well critically as the first part, it’ll be interesting to see how much more it will drop off in the coming weeks, particularly as we enter precursor awards season.

Meanwhile, Disney’s trip back to Zootopia didn’t come close to making Moana money (remember that $225 million opening weekend?) but, at $156 million, it was able to comfortably snag first place for the holiday weekend. That’s just about double what the original Zootopia made in its March 2016 debut. That movie ended up at over $341 million domestic and won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. With great audience reaction (an A grade in Cinemascore) and good enough reviews, the 3,322 people who picked the latest edition should be very happy with their $25 investment.

If you weren’t going to see either Zootopia 2 or Wicked: For Good this weekend, odds are you weren’t going to the movies at all. The drop-off once the list hits third place is steep: Now You See Me, Now You Don’t added $10 million to hit $49 million after three weeks. It’ll get over the $50 million bonus threshold next week, and at $5 it didn’t break your bank to draft it, but it’s still emblematic of how soft the fall box office has been up until now. Predator: Badlands is a highlight, reaching $85 million and taking the spot as the highest-grossing Predator movie of all time (sorry, the one with Danny Glover), but given that it cost $10 to draft, it remains less of an MFL value pick than Regretting You (which reached $48 million over the weekend) or Black Phone 2 ($77 million).

The weekend’s debuts included the Elizabeth Olsen/Miles Teller/Callum Turner afterlife comedy Eternity, which legged out $5 million cumulative (it only cost $2); Hamnet opening on 119 screens and already crossing the $1 million mark; and Wake Up Dead Man picking up a reported $4 million on 600 screens. Rian Johnson’s third Benoit Blanc movie is the rare Netflix theatrical engagement to report box-office numbers. For comparison’s sake, Glass Onion made $13 million on 696 screens over the Thanksgiving holiday in 2022.

Monday night’s Gotham Awards spread more points around, especially when it came to its tribute awards. Jay Kelly, Frankenstein, After the Hunt, Hedda, Song Sung Blue, and Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere each picked up a handsome 15 points as they collected their trophies.

One Battle After Another won Best Feature, picking up another 25 points to add to its total, but Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident was the night’s big winner, taking the awards for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature for a total of 55 MFL points. Sinners also picked up 40 points off a pair of awards: an ensemble tribute as well as Wunmi Mosaku winning Best Supporting Performance.

Not coincidentally, the above three films lead all other MFL movies this year in awards points, with One Battle After Another at 150, It Was Just an Accident at 95, and Sinners at 75.

You can visit the MFL landing page to see the full leaderboard — and join our Discord server for additional data about each movie in the MFL, plus much more.

Calendar

Oh. What. Fun: December 3
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2: December 5
Jay Kelly: December 5
A Private Life: December 5
Ella McCay: December 12
Goodbye June: December 12
Scarlet: December 12
Silent Night, Deadly Night: December 12
Atropia: December 12

Upcoming Awards

Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations: December 3
Critics Choice Awards nominations: December 5
Golden Globe nominations: December 8
Oscars shortlists: December 16

Questions? Feedback? Can’t find your team or mini-league on the leaderboard? Drop us a line at moviesleague@vulture.com.