Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is set to have stronger second weekend than previous Marvel release Black Widow. The first Asian-led superhero movie in the MCU opened on September 3 exclusively in theaters to acclaim from both fans and critics alike. The film also proved to be a box office hit, garnering $94 million in domestic revenue across the four day weekend, a feat which decimated Halloween's record for highest grossing Labor Day weekend, a period generally seen to be a quiet one for the box office.
When Black Widow opened on July 9 in theaters and on Disney+ via Premier Access, the film earned $80 million at the domestic box office which coupled with a reported $60 million earned from streaming, making it was the highest grossing film of the summer. However, the film saw a drop-off of 67% at the box office in its second weekend, a shockingly steep decline. The drop-off was blamed on a number of factors, including its availability on Disney+, the rise in COVID-19 cases involving the Delta variant, and a rise in piracy - the film was the most pirated movie for three weeks upon its release.
According to The Wrap, while the box-office appears to be entering into another slow weekend, Shang-Chi looks set to maintain its hold as the top film and is set to earn more than Black Widow in its second weekend. The film earned $9.7 million on its second Friday, leading experts to estimate that Shang-Chi's second weekend will total around $32 million, much higher than the $25 million earned by Black Widow. This amount also means that Shang-Chi has a higher estimated ten-day total than Black Widow, with the film predicted to earn $141 million in its first ten days, as opposed to Black Widow's $131 million.
The steep decline of Black Widow led Scarlett Johansson to file a lawsuit against Disney over the hybrid release of the film, citing a breach of contract as it specified a solely theatrical release. News of the lawsuit, and Disney's unfavorable response to it, made waves in Hollywood, with many rallying to the actress' side in protest against the recent trend of Hollywood studios moving towards hybrid or solely VOD releases. Many speculate that this bad publicity is what led the studio to shift Shang-Chi's release to a solely theatrical.
Whether the move was an attempt to prove a point regarding theatrical releases, or it was simply "an experiment," to use the words of Disney CEO Bob Chapek, it seems to have paid off. Shang-Chi had the second-highest domestic opening weekend of the summer over a three-day period, and now it seems to be continuing, partially thanks to a lack of competition from streaming on Disney+ and, perhaps consequently, a significantly lower level of piracy. The success has even led Disney to reconsider the release of their next Marvel project Eternals, which has now been confirmed to receive an exclusive theatrical release.
While it remains to be seen how Shang-Chi continues to perform across its second weekend, the forecast looks good for the film. Hopefully it can continue this trend of success and prove that theatrical releases are still viable despite the current climate; although its worth noting that Shang-Chi is yet to face any significant opposition at the box-office. Whether Eternals can replicate this success is another matter entirely, but it will be certainly interesting to see.
Source: The Wrap
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