‘Wicked’ Becomes Highest-Grossing Movie Based on Musical of All Time

“Wicked” is pretty dang ‘Popular’ … raking in the dough at the box office — and, officially becoming the highest-grossing movie based on a musical ever in the U.S.

According to Deadline, the movie’s running domestic gross hit $214.3 million through Friday … already eclipsing the lifetime gross of “Grease” — which came out almost 50 years ago.

Estimates have “Wicked” bringing in another nearly $50 million before the weekend is out … bringing its overall expected domestic gross to $263 million.

Obviously, this only factors in domestic gross … with the worldwide take pulling in nearly $360 million since the flick opened earlier this month.

In the worldwide tally when it comes to musical flicks, “Wicked” is still trailing “Les Miserables” ($442.7M) and “Grease” ($396.2M) … and, the great white whale of international musicals — “Mamma Mia!” at $611.2 million.

The film isn’t just making its nut on nostalgia alone … critics love the flick — and, it’s expected to get some Academy Awards buzz as voting kicks off next month.

And, remember … this is just the first part of “Wicked” — so, Universal gets to rake in the dough on next year’s second installment as well.

The characters in “Wicked” are “Dancing Through Life” … and, the producers are likely swimming through gold like Scrooge McDuck with this one!