In a big surprise to many, Marvel's recently released Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is on track to shatter the Labor Day Box office weekend record. While Marvel movies have historically been big earners at the box office, films released within the last year and a half have mostly failed to turn a profit due to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions put in place at theaters. Even with most cities having lifted those restrictions recently, films have only seen modest returns as citizens have been reluctant to get back into seats.
It seems Shang-Chi is going to change all of that, however. After opening Friday to a rather solid return, Saturday's box office bumped the three-day total of the film to around $71.4 million domestically. When taking into account the global gross, Shang-Chi will earn an estimated $127.6 million for its three day total.
Being this is a Labor Day weekend, there is also the four day total to consider and Shang-Chi has completely demolished the previously held record. Labor Day is typically quiet for films, but 2007's Halloween reboot had held the crown with a gross of $30.6 million. With Shang-Chi having more than doubled that total, it will be some time until another film can wrestle back the crown.
As if that record wasn't enough, Shang-Chi also set an IMAX Labor Day record by earning $13.2 million at select theaters. IMAX screenings don't typically account for a majority of the overall gross, but that is still a surprising return for a period where films have struggled with keep audiences.
If you're thinking this success is down to being a Marvel movie, the company's own Black Widow released earlier this year and finished its run with a $371.3 million global total. While it did open to a bigger weekend than Shang-Chi (debuting to $80.3 million), it had a tremendous fall off in its second week and never quite recovered. It didn't help that Disney simultaneously released the film on Disney+, which potentially ate into its gross.
These numbers are certainly fantastic, but there is one thing that needs to be kept in mind. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings hasn't been confirmed for a Chinese release yet. That is typically where Marvel movies make the majority of their money. I do feel this record breaking box office weekend speaks to moviegoers wanting to return to the big screen, but Marvel still has some work ahead of it to ensure Shang-Chi doesn't suffer the same fate as Black Widow.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter