Wicked: Record London show sales after film’s success
The global box office success of the big screen adaptation of musical Wicked helped the London stage show rake in record ticket sales last year.
The film, staring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, was released in November 2024 and generated more than $756m (£559.2m) worldwide off the back of a successful promotional tour.
It was directed by Jon M Chu and was the first of two – with the second set to be released later this year.
It adapted the first act of the stage musical which was first performed in 2003.
The show premiered in London in 2006 at the Apollo Victoria Theatre and has gone on to become one of the longest-running musicals in the West End.
By the end of last year, Wicked had raked up more than 6,700 performances to in excess of 12m people.
Now, new accounts filed with Companies House have revealed that anticipation of the Wicked film and its popularity once released helped the London stage show’s turnover jump to a new record high in 2024.
The results show the firm behind the show, Wicked London Production Limited, increased its turnover from £27.8m to £30.3m in the year.
The show’s turnover total in 2023 was also a record when it was set.
Over the same period, the show’s pre-tax profit also jumped from £1.1m to £1.8m.
A statement signed off by the board said: “The company faces competitive pressures from other producers in London to stage a successful production which will appeal to a large audience on an ongoing basis.
“The company carefully manages this risk by using its experience to produce a quality show to a continually high standard which it hopes will continue to be popular with audiences.”
How Wicked show compares to competition
The success of the London production of Wicked comes after City PM reported in June that the group which owns the theatre behind Harry Potter and the Cursed Child also achieved a record profit for its latest financial year.
Nimax Theatres posted a pre-tax profit of £10m for the 12 months to 29 September, 2024.
The total came after the business reported a pre-tax profit of £7.5m for the prior year.
The results also show the group, which owns the Palace, Garrick, Duchess, Vaudeville, Apollo and Lyric theatres, increased its turnover from £32.8m to £35.5m.
In December 2024, City PM also reported that the company behind the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child stage play itself remained in the red amid falling sales and show closures.
The joint venture which produces the show across the world has reported a turnover of £41.3m for the year to 31 March, 2024, down from the £45.2m it achieved in the prior 12 months.
Its pre-tax loss also went from £960,026 to £876,003 over the same period.
The last time the joint venture made a pre-tax profit was the £955,945 it achieved in the year to 31 October, 2020.
Accounts for its latest financial year have not yet been filed with Companies House.
In April, City PM reported that the closure of The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway led to sales and profit at the entertainment empire owned by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber being slashed during its latest financial year.
The Really Useful Group posted a turnover of £36.5m for the year to 30 June, 2024, down from the £43.6m it achieved in the prior 12 months.
Its pre-tax profit was also cut from £10.2m to £4.6m over the same period.
In the prior month, it was revealed that Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s LW Theatres’ pre-tax profit was cut from £21.4m to £11.6m in the year to 30 June, 2024.
LW Theatres is made up of The Theatre Royal Drury Lane, The London Palladium, Adelphi Theatre, His Majesty’s Theatre, Cambridge Theatre and Gillian Lynne Theatre.