The latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, appears to have restored faith in the cinema after scoring a record-breaking box office success over Labor Day weekend.
Labor Day weekend in the U.S. generally has a negative impact on the box-office success of a new movie. However, Shang-Chi pulled in $71.4 million in the U.S. alone, debuting as the number one film in the country. It also made an additional $56.2 million across the rest of the world. In the U.K., Shang-Chi had the biggest opening weekend for a movie released after (and during) the pandemic, earning £5.76 million at the box office. In total, it’s estimated that the film made an impressive $139.7 million over the three-day period.
Shang-Chi is the second film that Marvel Studios have released after the pandemic—yet unlike Black Widow, the film has only been released in cinemas. The film’s 45-day cinema-exclusive release may have contributed to its box office success, as although Black Widow had the more lucrative opening weekend, its sales declined rapidly in the following weeks. This trajectory was no doubt impacted by the simultaneous release of the film on Disney+. Shang-Chi is only the second film that Disney has released in cinemas this year, rather than offering it on Premiere Access for a fee on Disney+, but the move has evidently paid off. This could impact the ways in which Marvel releases its upcoming films, including The Eternals in November and Spider-Man: No Way Home in December.
The new blockbuster has received rave reviews from critics and fans alike, with its 93% (“Certified Fresh”) rating on Rotten Tomatoes making it one of the highest-rated comic book movies of all time. Not to mention, as well as making box office history, Shang-Chi has smashed ceilings in more ways than one with protagonist Xu Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) becoming the first Asian superhero to star in their own live-action MCU film. The public consensus, then, seems to be that Shang-Chi is a stellar film that deserves every success it has earned.
Check out our review of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings here.
Words by Jess Bacon
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.