Wicked is already “defying gravity” on this list.
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in “Wicked”
Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures
Well, that was fast. Wicked has been making box-office history since it opened on Nov. 22. The long-awaited film adaptation of the 2003 Broadway musical has already grossed $382.8 million worldwide, a total topped by only three other films that were based on Broadway musicals.
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo star in the film, which was directed by Jon M. Chu, whose hit-studded résumé includes a previous film adaptation of a Broadway musical, the 2021 movie version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s breakout hit In the Heights.
Seven film adaptations of Broadway musicals appear on Box Office Mojo’s list of the top 1,000 films in terms of lifetime worldwide grosses. That counts Mamma Mia!, a film adaptation of the 2001 stage musical built around ABBA music, but not its Cher-featuring sequel Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again, on the grounds that the latter was really just a sequel to a hit movie, not a Broadway musical. (The sequel did astonishingly well, with a worldwide gross of $395.6 million.) Of course, not all sequels are guaranteed to become box-office successes. Grease is here, but its 1982 sequel, Grease 2, which grossed just $15 million worldwide, didn’t come close. (Michelle Pfeiffer, the star of Grease 2, is represented on this list with Hairspray.)
Wicked Part Two is due for release on Nov. 21, 2025. Will it follow its predecessor to box-office glory? If it does, Chu will join Rob Marshall as the only director with two films on this list; Marshall directed both Chicago and Into the Woods.
One disclaimer about this list right at the top: You can’t really compare box-office grosses of films from different eras. The biggest blockbusters of earlier eras simply can’t match the grosses of today’s hits. (It’s not just your imagination that ticket prices are much higher than they used to be.) The Sound of Music has grossed $159.5 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo — not enough to make their list of 1,000 top-grossing films. But that 1965 adaptation of the 1959 Broadway musical is one of the biggest hits in film history.
Other film adaptations of Broadway musicals that have grossed more than $50 million worldwide, but not enough to make the list, include Dreamgirls ($155.5 million), the 2021 version of West Side Story ($76 million), My Fair Lady ($72.7 million) and Funny Girl ($52.2 million).
Here are the seven top-grossing film adaptations of Broadway musicals. All appear Box Office Mojo’s list of the top 1,000 films in terms of lifetime worldwide grosses.
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Hairspray
Image Credit: ©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection Film’s worldwide gross: $203.6 million
Soundtrack’s Billboard 200 peak: No. 2
Stars: John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes, James Marsden, Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow, Zac Efron, Elijah Kelley, Allison Janney, Nikki Blonsky
Director: Adam Shankman
Date film opened: July 20, 2007
Date Broadway show opened: Aug. 15, 2002
Music credits: Music by Marc Shaiman; Lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman
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Into the Woods
Film’s worldwide gross: $212.9 million
Soundtrack’s Billboard 200 peak: No. 8
Stars: Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Tracey Ullman, Christine Baranski, Johnny Depp
Director: Rob Marshall
Date film opened: Dec. 25, 2014
Date Broadway show opened: Nov. 5, 1987
Music credits: Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
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Chicago
Image Credit: Miramax/courtesy Everett Collection Film’s worldwide gross: $306.8 million
Soundtrack’s Billboard 200 peak: No. 2
Stars: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly, Lucy Liu, Colm Feore
Director: Rob Marshall
Date film opened: Jan. 24, 2003 (earlier in selected markets)
Date Broadway show opened: June 3, 1975
Music credits: Music by John Kander; Lyrics by Fred Ebb
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Wicked
Film’s worldwide gross (so far): $382.8 million
Soundtrack’s Billboard 200 peak: No. 2 (so far)
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum
Director: Jon M. Chu
Date film opened: Nov. 22, 2024
Date Broadway show opened: Oct. 30, 2003
Music credits: Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
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Grease
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection Film’s worldwide gross: $396.3 million
Soundtrack’s Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (12 weeks)
Stars: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway, Eve Arden, Frankie Avalon, Joan Blondell, Edd Byrnes, Sid Caesar, Alice Ghostley, Dody Goodman, Sha Na Na
Director: Randal Kleiser
Date film opened: June 16, 1978
Date Broadway show opened: Feb. 14, 1972
Music credits: Music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey
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Les Misérables
Film’s worldwide gross: $442.8 million
Soundtrack’s Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (one week)
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen
Director: Tom Hooper
Date film opened: Dec. 25, 2012
Date Broadway show opened: March 12, 1987
Music credits: Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer
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Mamma Mia!
Image Credit: Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection Film’s worldwide gross: $611.5 million
Soundtrack’s Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (one week)
Stars: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Julie Walters, Dominic Cooper, Amanda Seyfried, Christine Baranski
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Date film opened: July 18, 2008
Date Broadway show opened: Oct. 18, 2001
Music credits: Music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus
