Wicked Just Broke A Big Record For On-Demand Movie Releases
Universal decided to release Wicked on PVOD on New Year’s Eve, less than two months following its incredible theatrical opening with Gladiator II – endearingly known as Wickediator. In the week since movie fans could buy the movie for $30 or rent for $20 on digital platforms, the movie has had the biggest first day and first week for a PVOD release.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the musical made $26 million on New Year’s Eve alone (meaning that somewhere around $10 million households ended their year with the movie) before soaring to more than $70 million in sales in the U.S. and Canada. After Wicked already became the highest-grossing movie based on a Broadway musical, the movie just earned another impressive record.
Per the outlet, the film that Wicked beat out was 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie by making twice as much in the same time period in PVOD sales. While movies classically used to wait 90 days before becoming available to check out from the comfort of your couch, Wicked was made available due to a previous deal Universal Pictures made with theaters back in 2020 for PVOD to allow for their movies to go home sooner. Universal usually waits 35 days, but Wicked itself went to PVOD 39 days after its theatrical release date to coincide with NYE and its special Rose Parade float, which you can check out below:
Millions of people tune into the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day every year, and certainly the incredible float helped spread the word along with the movie itself getting so much good buzz.
PVOD Didn’t Slow Down Wicked In Theaters Much
Even though Wicked can now be rented or purchased at home, it hasn’t stopped people from getting out of their houses to catch the movie. In the first weekend of the new year, Wicked made an additional $10 million at the box office and remained in the top five of releases (with Mufasa, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Nosferatu and Moana 2 over it). Across its time in cinemas, Wicked has made $683 million worldwide, which made it the #6 top grossing 2024 movie along with being #3 at the 2024 domestic box office, under Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine.
Nothing could bring down Wicked! The movie’s performance helped the movie business earn an impressive $30 billion this year, per Variety. You can rent or own Wicked on Amazon now.
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