Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Chicago delivered Broadway’s biggest year-over-year gross increases for the week ending October 25, 2026, even as the industry’s overall box office fell from the comparable period in 2025.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child grossed $1,990,388, up 103.6% from $977,525 during the same week last year. Chicago followed with $1,016,483, a 70.1% increase from its previous-year total of $597,569.

MJ ranked third among the largest annual gains, climbing 37% to $1,736,241 from $1,267,646. & Juliet rose 34.3% to $934,066, while Oh, Mary! completed the top five with $1,523,740, up 23.8% from $1,231,214.

A mixed week across Broadway

Across 32 productions, Broadway sold 262,928 tickets and generated $33,966,016. The average ticket price was $129.18, and 93.07% of the 282,515 available seats were filled. The number of shows increased by two from the previous week.

Attendance rose 1.45% week over week, while grosses were nearly unchanged, increasing by just 0.01%. The average ticket price declined by $1.87 from the prior week.

The annual comparison was less favorable for the industry as a whole. Grosses were down 8.13% from $36,970,592 during Week 43 of 2025, while attendance declined 5.17%. The average ticket price was also $4.16 below the $133.35 recorded during the comparable week last year.

Capacity utilization nevertheless improved from 89.6% one year earlier to 93.1%, a gain of 3.5 percentage points.

Hamilton remains the week’s top grosser

Hamilton led all Broadway productions with $2,524,951, followed by Other Desert Cities at $2,262,442. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child placed third, ahead of The Lion King at $1,869,464 and MJ at $1,736,241.

Other Desert Cities also commanded the week’s highest average ticket price at $290.35. Hamilton averaged $235.58, Oh, Mary! reached $213.98, MJ averaged $157.58 and A Few Good Men posted $155.42.

At the other end of the gross rankings, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play earned $411,613. The Imaginary Invalid grossed $419,673, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) took in $590,166, Wanted reached $624,088 and Six: The Musical grossed $629,131.

Stranger Things: The First Shadow had the lowest average ticket price at $78.89, narrowly below Wanted at $79.60. School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play averaged $83.70, Aladdin was at $86.41 and The Imaginary Invalid averaged $87.14.

Harry Potter posts the biggest weekly dollar gain

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child also led the week-to-week gross increases, adding $763,913. Other Desert Cities rose by $444,858, Wanted gained $173,074, A Few Good Men added $125,146 and Paranormal Activity increased by $23,113.

Chicago’s sizable year-over-year improvement came despite a $155,005 decline from the previous week. Just in Time had the largest weekly decrease, falling by $351,765, followed by Hamilton at $252,389, Wicked at $173,168 and Six: The Musical at $160,987.

Wanted recorded the largest attendance gain from the previous week, adding 2,618 theatergoers. A Few Good Men increased by 1,103, 860 added 717 and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child gained 316. Stranger Things: The First Shadow had the steepest attendance decline, losing 1,364, while Six: The Musical was down 1,038.

By percentage of total seats filled, 860 led at 107.1%. Hamilton registered 101.2%, Other Desert Cities and A Few Good Men each reached 100%, and Hadestown filled 99.7%. Stranger Things: The First Shadow ranked lowest at 70.3%, followed by Six: The Musical at 72.9% and Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) at 74.7%.

ShowBiz Take

The latest figures present a sharply divided Broadway picture. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child more than doubled its gross from the same week last year and also delivered the largest dollar increase from the previous week. Chicago produced the second-biggest annual percentage gain even while slipping in the shorter weekly comparison.

Those individual advances did not translate into overall annual growth. Broadway filled a greater percentage of available seats than it did one year earlier, but total attendance, grosses and average ticket price were all lower. The result is a week in which several productions showed substantial momentum while the broader market remained below its 2025 level.

What Happens Next?

The Broadway schedule continues to develop following two openings: 860 opened at the Imperial on October 21, and The Imaginary Invalid opened at the Haimes on October 22.

A Few Good Men is in previews at the Beaumont and opens October 29. Wanted, currently in previews at the Jones, opens November 8. Downstate began previews at the Booth and opens November 15, while The Fantasticks began previews at the Hayes ahead of its November 16 opening.

The figures are sourced to The Broadway League and were presented with a notice that the data are for informational purposes and are not guaranteed for accuracy or presentation.