Marvel’s SHANG-CHI Posts Record-Setting Box Office Numbers for Labor Day Weekend
By Movieguide® Staff
After a strong opening performance from Marvel’s BLACK WIDOW and a steep second-weekend drop-off, many were holding their breath with the release of SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS.
Unlike BLACK WIDOW, Disney opted to release SHANG-CHI solely in theaters and not simultaneously on Disney+ like BLACK WIDOW.
But the studio let out a sigh of relief after SHANG-CHI posted an impressive Labor Day weekend performance with $94.4 million in its first four days in theaters, setting a record for the historically slow weekend at the box office.
Although there was a time when less than $100 million would amount to a poor performance for a Marvel movie, in the pandemic era, it is on track to be one of the highest-grossing movies of the year.
Variety reported:
Since Labor Day is traditionally a slow weekend at the box office, the film’s three-day total of $75.5 million blew past previous the record set by 2007’s “Halloween” and its $30.6 million start. Despite concerns the delta variant would keep audiences at home, “Shang-Chi” notched the second-biggest opening weekend of the pandemic, behind only “Black Widow” with $80 million. Impressively, it ranked ahead of Universal’s “Fast & Furious” sequel “F9” ($70 million) and Paramount’s “A Quiet Place Part II” ($48 million), both of which opened earlier in summer at time when COVID-19 looked like it might eventually abate.
SHANG-CHI also earned $56.2 million overseas, bringing the movie’s total to $146.2 million.
“‘Black Widow’ showed what a Marvel movie can do in pandemic conditions, and that release had the additional burden of a streaming option,” David A. Gross noted. “For Marvel, ‘Shang-Chi’ is a creative departure, and at a cost of over $150 million, the results are very good.”
According to Disney CEO Bob Chapek, SHANG-CHI’s level of success also acted as an “interesting experiment” to see how viable an exclusive theatrical release could be for future Marvel movies like ETERNALS.
A portion of Movieguide®’s review of SHANG-CHI reads:
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS is a comical action entry in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. It introduces a Chinese superhero who ran away from his criminal father who trained him to be an assassin. The father uses 10 powerful arm rings to enlarge and run his criminal 10 Rings empire. Shang-Chi (“Shawng-Chee”) learns his widowed father is being deceived by a demonic, imprisoned “soul-eating” monster into thinking a mystical village guarding a magical land is holding his dead wife’s spirit prisoner. The father intends to destroy the village, free his mother’s soul and use the rings to bring Shang-Chi’s mother back to life.
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS is a funny superhero movie with lots of exciting action. It has terrific martial arts stunt fighting. The movie has a mixed worldview, however. There are some strong moral, redemptive themes such as baptism, sacrifice, death and resurrection, reconciliation, and overcoming demonic “soul-eating” monsters. However, SHANG-CHI has lots of action violence, some fantasy and occult content, scary monsters, and some foul language. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises serious caution for impressionable children.
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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
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