'Wicked' Becomes Highest-Grossing Movie Based on Musical of All Time
'Wicked' Defying Box Office Gravity ... Highest-Grossing Movie Based on Musical Ever!!!
"Wicked" is pretty dang 'Popular' ... raking in the dough at the box office -- and, officially becoming the highest-grossing movie based on a musical ever in the U.S.
According to Deadline, the movie's running domestic gross hit $214.3 million through Friday ... already eclipsing the lifetime gross of "Grease" -- which came out almost 50 years ago.
Estimates have "Wicked" bringing in another nearly $50 million before the weekend is out ... bringing its overall expected domestic gross to $263 million.
Obviously, this only factors in domestic gross ... with the worldwide take pulling in nearly $360 million since the flick opened earlier this month.
In the worldwide tally when it comes to musical flicks, "Wicked" is still trailing "Les Miserables" ($442.7M) and "Grease" ($396.2M) ... and, the great white whale of international musicals -- "Mamma Mia!" at $611.2 million.
The film isn't just making its nut on nostalgia alone ... critics love the flick -- and, it's expected to get some Academy Awards buzz as voting kicks off next month.
And, remember ... this is just the first part of "Wicked" -- so, Universal gets to rake in the dough on next year's second installment as well.
The characters in "Wicked" are "Dancing Through Life" ... and, the producers are likely swimming through gold like Scrooge McDuck with this one!