“Wicked: For Good” key art featuring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
Universal Pictures
Will Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande’s Wicked: For Good be available to stream by New Year’s Eve, just like Wicked last year? Judging by last year’s release pattern for Wicked, the chances of the sequel becoming available for home viewing to help ring in 2026 are looking pretty good.
Like Wicked, Wicked: For Good is directed by John M. Chu. Wicked: For Good, of course, continues the story of Elphaba (Erivio) and Glinda (Grande), and features the return of such key Wicked characters as the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum), Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), Nessarose (Marissa Bode) and Boq (Ethan Slater).
Wicked: For Good is a Universal Pictures release, and the studio generally has an 18-day to one-month window between the days its films open in theaters and arrive on digital streaming via premium video on demand. This fall alone, such Universal films as Nobody 2 and Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale took the fast track to PVOD, with each becoming available for digital purchase or rent 18 days after their respective theatrical release dates of Aug. 15 and Sept. 12.
Universal’s blockbuster level releases, however, generally take a bit longer to reach PVOD. Jurassic World Rebirth, for example, arrived on PVOD on Aug. 5, just over a month after it premiered in theaters on July 2. Since Wicked: For Good is also a marquee release, the film could conceivably follow the one-month pattern and arrive on PVOD as early as Dec. 23, since new films on digital typically are released on Tuesday.
However, since it took Wicked roughly five weeks to premiere on PVOD in 2024, it’s likely that Wicked: For Good will follow the same five-week release pattern this year.
Wicked premiered in theaters on Nov. 22, 2024, and was released on PVOD on New Year’s Eve, on Tuesday, Dec. 31. Should Wicked: For Good — which premiered in theaters on Nov. 21 — follow the same PVOD path as the first Wicked movie a year ago, it puts the release date one day head of New Year’s Eve, on Tuesday, Dec. 30.
It’s possible, though, that Universal may want to create a New Year’s Eve-type of event release for fans of Wicked: For Good and hold the PVOD debut until Wednesday, Dec. 31.
No matter what day Wicked: For Good arrives on PVOD, it will be available for purchase or rent on such digital platforms as Apple TV, Fandango at Home, Prime Video and YouTube Movies & TV. Prime Video already has Wicked: For Good available for pre-order for purchase on Ultra HD for $29.99.
Since rental prices for new PVOD releases are $5 less than purchase prices, viewers can expect to rent Wicked: For Good for $24.99 for a 48-hour period.
What Is ‘Wicked: For Good’ About?
The combined storylines for Wicked and Wicked: For Good were adapted from the 2003 blockbuster Broadway musical Wicked, which starred Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth as Elphaba and Glinda, respectively.
The official synopsis for Wicked: For Good reads in part, “Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), now demonized as The Wicked Witch of the West, lives in exile, hidden within the Ozian forest while continuing her fight for the freedom of Oz’s silenced Animals and desperately trying to expose the truth she knows about The Wizard (Jeff Goldblum).
“Glinda (Ariana Grande), meanwhile, has become the glamorous symbol of Goodness for all of Oz, living at the palace in Emerald City and reveling in the perks of fame and popularity. Under the instruction of Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), Glinda is deployed to serve as an effervescent comfort to Oz, reassuring the masses that all is well under the rule of The Wizard.
“As Glinda’s stardom expands and she prepares to marry Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) in a spectacular Ozian wedding, she is haunted by her separation from Elphaba. She attempts to broker a conciliation between Elphaba and The Wizard, but those efforts will fail, driving Elphaba and Glinda only further apart. The aftershocks will transform Boq (Ethan Slater) and Fiyero forever, and threaten the safety of Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode), when a girl from Kansas comes crashing into all their lives.”
Rated PG, Wicked: For Good is still playing in theaters nationwide.