Why 'Wicked's Box Office and Pop Culture Success Is A Wake-Up Call For Disney

Even amid market-share dominating box office, the new franchises and new pop culture-defining blockbusters are coming from The Mouse House's Hollywood rivals.

Wicked Part One will enter weekend three just past $400 million globally, while Moana 2 enters weekend two above $450 million. However, the former has been the top movie at the domestic box office since Wednesday, with Disney’s sequel placing third yesterday behind Wicked and the $4.5 million opening day of Tollywood’s Pushpa 2: The Rule. Yes, Moana 2 is likely to A) easily top the weekend and B) vastly outgross Wicked Part One globally. Wicked Part One is nonetheless a bigger win for Universal than Moana 2 is for Disney. Wicked 1 shows what non-Disney studios can do, while Moana 2 shows what The Mouse House can’t.

After this weekend, the Cynthia Erivos/Ariana Grande fantasy will be the highest-grossing non-sequel/prequel in North America since Barbie ($636 million) in July 2023. It is an example of new(er) franchises hitting paydirt commercially and within the pop culture zeitgeist. It’s also precisely the kind of “new” crowdpleasing female-focused fantasy adventure (Alice in Wonderland, Frozen, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, etc.) that helped Disney conquer the tentpole mountain in the 2010s. Beyond just a rival kicking butt in Disney’s most specialized sandbox, it’s another example of how the new, or even newer, franchises that inspire box office and buzz are coming from outside the Mouse House.