Image credits: Universal Pictures

The film soundtrack debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart, the highest debut for a big-screen adaptation of a stage musical ever.

The Wicked film soundtrack has reached historic heights, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. This remarkable feat makes it the highest debut for a stage-to-screen musical since the chart’s launch in 1956. Based on the long-running stage musical of the same name, the film features Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as Glinda and Elphaba. The soundtrack also claimed the top spot on Billboard’s Top Album Sales, Soundtracks, and Vinyl Album charts, underscoring its sweeping impact across the music industry.

By the Numbers

Wicked’s success is reflected by its impressive first-week sales: 139,000 album equivalent units. These units break down into 85,000 pure album sales (39,000 from vinyl alone), with the remaining generated by track and streaming equivalents. The latter accounts for an astonishing 67.66 million streams, marking the largest streaming week ever for a stage-to-screen musical and the biggest for any soundtrack across 2024.

Special editions played a significant role in boosting sales, with six vinyl variants and four CD editions, and varying signed copies. Undoubtedly, these unique offerings helped to cement Wicked’s place in the record books.

Smashing Records

Accompanying the film, the soundtrack has also achieved milestones unmatched by other musicals. It is the first stage-to-screen musical to debut in Billboard 200’s top five in 21 years, since Chicago in 2002. Impressively, the last musical soundtrack to claim a top-two spot was Les Misérables over a decade ago.

The film, released on November 22, 2024 has also shattered records. It claimed the highest grossing Broadway musical adaptation at the US box office, as well as the highest global and domestic opening for lead actors Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo and director Jon M. Chu. with a domestic opening weekend gross of $112.5 million, it ranked as the third-highest opener of 2024, trailing only Deadpool & Wolverine and Inside Out 2. Notably, it also secured the biggest global opening for a non-sequel film this year- a striking accomplishment in today’s market full of sequels and nostalgia-fuelled remakes.

A Boost for the Original Broadway Recording

The theatrical show has played on Broadway in New York since 2003, and buzz surrounding the film has reignited interest in the original Broadway cast recording. Released nearly 21 years ago, the cast album leapt from No. 79 to No. 33 on the Billboard 200 chart dated December 7, 2024. This marks only the seventh time in 25 years that a Broadway cast album has reached the top 40.

The original cast recording earned 22,000 equivalent album units in the same week, reflecting a 60% increase. It’s also celebrating its 350th non-consecutive week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Cast Albums chart, second only to Hamilton: An American Musical, which holds the record with 411 weeks.

The success of the Wicked soundtrack underscores its cultural significance, bridging the worlds of theater and cinema. Fans new and old have flocked to both the film’s music and the Broadway original, proving the timeless appeal of this enchanting story. Personally, I loved the film and have been listening to the soundtrack non-stop ever since.

It may be too early for the tracks to have gone viral on social media, but the impressive numbers already highlight the soundtrack’s widespread appeal and growing popularity.