George Clooney's 'Good Night, and Good Luck' Breaks Broadway Record with $4M Week

NEW YORK — George Clooney's Broadway debut in "Good Night, and Good Luck" has made history, becoming the first play to gross over $4 million in a single week, according to Deadline. The production, playing at the Winter Garden Theatre, earned $4,003,482 for eight performances in the week ending May 4, 2025, surpassing the previous record held by "The Music Man," which grossed $3.5 million for nine performances.

Adapted from the 2005 Oscar-nominated film co-written by Clooney and Grant Heslov, the play chronicles broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow's 1950s battle against Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist crusade. Directed by Tony Award-winner David Cromer, the production stars Clooney as Murrow, with a cast including Ilana Glazer as Shirley Wershba and Paul Gross as William F. Paley.

The record-breaking week follows the play's five Tony Award nominations, including Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for Clooney. "I am honored, after all these years, to be coming back to the stage and especially, to Broadway, the art form and the venue that every actor aspires to," Clooney said in a statement when the production was announced. The show, which began previews March 12 and opened April 3, has drawn crowds with an average ticket price of $303.40 and premium seats reaching $825, outpacing other high-grossing plays like "Othello," starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal.

The production also reported a 62,540 increase over the previous week, making it one of only eight shows to see gains during Tony nominations week. In a nod to its journalistic themes, the play's producers partnered with TodayTix to subsidize 2,000 tickets for New York City public school students, particularly those studying journalism. "Good Night, and Good Luck" has now set a new benchmark for the Shubert Organization's highest-grossing production at the 1,537-seat Winter Garden Theatre, where it runs through June 8.

The play's success underscores Broadway's appetite for star-driven historical dramas, with Clooney's Murrow delivering a timely critique of media and political integrity. Posts on X reflected the buzz, with users like@mrcarl_woodward noting, "Another week, another broken record," celebrating the play's historic achievement.