Bob Mondello

But the story isn't as well known in other countries, so Wicked for Good opening to more than $75 million overseas, even with stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo doing extensive publicity tours, was not a given.

The first Wicked film made $758 million worldwide, so their combined box office will reach a billion dollars in the next few days.

Bob Mondello, NPR News.

Wicked for Good had a very good opening day, $68 million.

But that figure comes with an asterisk.

As with many big films, the studio includes previews in its opening day figure.

Usually that means showings the night before.

But Wicked for Good had previews on Monday in more than a thousand theaters, and then some more on Wednesday before Thursday when a lot of the previews were actually double features with the first Wicked.

That's a serious stretch for an opening day.

Still, any way you slice it, more than 5 million people have already seen Wicked, a number that's expected to more than double by the end of the weekend.

Bob Mondello, NPR News.

For a film about decidedly minor Marvel characters, Thunderbolts did just fine. You feel fulfilled? Yeah, so full. So filled. By the end of the weekend, it will have taken in about $76 million in North America. and another $86 million overseas, for a total of $162 million in three days. That's hardly huge for a Marvel movie, but Thunderbolts wasn't hugely expensive to produce.

For a film about decidedly minor Marvel characters, Thunderbolts did just fine. You feel fulfilled? Yeah, so full. So filled. By the end of the weekend, it will have taken in about $76 million in North America. and another $86 million overseas, for a total of $162 million in three days. That's hardly huge for a Marvel movie, but Thunderbolts wasn't hugely expensive to produce.

It's expected to play well for much of the summer, also performing well the third weekend of the blues-inflected vampire film, Sinners.

It's expected to play well for much of the summer, also performing well the third weekend of the blues-inflected vampire film, Sinners.

In three weeks, Sinners has now collected almost $180 million just in North America. Bob Mondello, NPR News.

In three weeks, Sinners has now collected almost $180 million just in North America. Bob Mondello, NPR News.

Snow White easily dwarfed the competition at cinemas. The rest of the box office top ten combined made barely half as much as Snow White did, but this live-action remake of Disney's first animated feature only took in $87 million worldwide. and that means making back its $270 million production cost is going to be difficult.

Snow White easily dwarfed the competition at cinemas. The rest of the box office top ten combined made barely half as much as Snow White did, but this live-action remake of Disney's first animated feature only took in $87 million worldwide. and that means making back its $270 million production cost is going to be difficult.

Disney has had a lot of success with live remakes of its animated classics, and even when they don't cast a spell at the box office, they feed the company's other revenue streams, Disney+, sales of merchandise, theme park rides, even shows on Broadway. Still, for Hollywood, it's a disappointing start, in a year that has yet to have a smash hit. Bob Mondello, NPR News.