(CNN) — There was no place like the movie theater for fans of “Wicked” this weekend.

Universal’s “Wicked: For Good” soared to No. 1 at the weekend box office, earning $150 million domestically and $226 million worldwide — far outpacing its predecessor, “Wicked,” which opened to $114 million domestically during last year’s pre-Thanksgiving weekend.

“It’s never a guarantee that a second installment will outperform an original, especially on the opening weekend,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Comscore. “The first film, and now this movie … created a cultural phenomenon. This was not an overnight success.”

The musical fantasy film, which is a retelling inspired by the 1900 children’s novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” became the second-highest domestic opener of t

See Full Page