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Shang-Chi First Film Since Feb. 2020 To Cross $200 Million At US Box Office
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the first film to cross $200 million at the domestic box office since February 2020 when Bad Boys For Life hit theaters. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the latest entry from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is currently in the early stages of Phase Four. Starring Simu Liu, Tony Leung, Awkwafina, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Yeoh and Meng'er Zhang, the film has enjoyed a successful, theatrical-only release after Disney reversed their strategy to release their films day-and-date in theaters and on Premier Access via Disney+.
In contrast, the last MCU film, Black Widow, was released in theaters and on Premier Access, which many feel effected its overall box-office performance. Star Scarlett Johansson sued Disney for the move, which presumably cost her tens of millions of dollars, and recently settled her lawsuit with the company. Disney has since altered their release strategy and back-end deals to adapt to the post-pandemic environment, even as the box office seems poised to bounce back, even if in a shortened theatrical window.
Now comes word (via The Wrap) that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has passed the $200 million domestic box office milestone, making it the first to do so since Bad Boys For Life back in February of 2020. Theaters began shutting down due to the spread of Covid-19 in March 2020 and this marks the first time it has matched ticket sales since that time. Shang-Chi is sitting at $366 million globally, and is expected to surpass Black Widow's final cume of $378 million before it heads to Blu-ray, DVD, and digital, as well as streaming on Disney+ in November.
Disney is also enjoying the success of Ryan Reynold's Free Guy, which crossed the $100 million mark domestically and finished globally at $318 million, making it another major hit for the studio. Their next entry in the MCU, the Chloe Zhao directed Eternals, will release in theaters only for an exclusive 45-day release window before heading to Disney+ and home video. The Sony/Marvel collaboration of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which releases in December, will also be a theatrical-only release and with the anticipation dialed up so high, it's likely that it will not only match Shang-Chi, but surpass it, especially since the last entry in the Spider-Man series, Spider-Man: Far From Home, racked up $390 million domestically and $1.1 billion globally (in pre-Covid times).
With studios struggling on how to release their tentpole films for the last year and a half, seeing a movie like Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings bounce the box office back so strongly is a welcome sight. An untested, mostly unknown Asian Marvel superhero making box office waves like this is unprecedented and could be looked at as either a singular phenomenon or a preview of things to come as audiences get more and more comfortable in returning to the box office. Marvel seems to have switched their position on day-and-date releases, but other studios like WB are holding strong to the model, with their upcoming releases including The Many Saints of Newark, Dune and The Matrix Resurrections all heading to theaters and HBO Max at the same time. While audiences have adapted to the streaming model, many have also found it refreshing to step outside their doors after having been locked up in their homes for so long. Time will tell how close the box office is to being back and much of it will be dictated by the quality of the content.
