Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings continues to show its might at the box office, scoring the best second weekend since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. After a slightly rougher summer than expected, the box office recovery appears to be moving in the right direction once again. Renewed concerns over the Delta variant painted an uncertain portrait of moviegoing, with some worrying that the recovery would be hindered greatly. Luckily, as films like Free Guy and Candyman have shown, audiences are still willing to turn out for movies, albeit at smaller levels than normal.
Shang-Chi's arrival was met with great interest. As the MCU's first Asian-led movie and the first to release exclusively in theaters since the pandemic began, the early projections for Shang-Chi had it earning one of the lowest openings in the MCU. Those expectations were shattered last weekend, with the Simu Liu-led movie earned $71 million in 3 days, the second-biggest opening of the entire pandemic. In scoring $90 million through the 4-day Labor Day weekend, Shang-Chi broke records for the holiday.
Going into its second weekend, Shang-Chi was expected to repeat at number 1, and that's exactly what happened. Per Forbes, the MCU flick earned $34.1 million, bringing its domestic total to $143.9 million. That was only a 52.5% decrease from one weekend to the next, which is a decent hold these days. It's the biggest second weekend since The Rise of Skywalker's $77 million in December 2019. Additionally Shang-Chi has now earned $257.6 million worldwide.
This news will be met with much relief from the entertainment industry. The last MCU movie to debut in theaters, Black Widow, broke the record for the biggest opening weekend of the pandemic, yet dropped a devastating 67% in its second weekend. At the same time, Black Widow was also available on Disney+, and many believe that led to smaller box office returns than it might've earned in normal times. Shang-Chi is an exclusive theatrical release, and its financial performance has contributed to the belief that theaters-only releases can indeed survive the current marketplace.
Shang-Chi is already one of the highest-grossing movies of the year, but it can go even farther if its performance continues to hold up. The next movie slated to arrive in theaters that could arguably serve as competition for Shang-Chi's audience is No Time To Die in early October, so the Marvel movie will have a good few weeks as the biggest blockbuster currently playing. This is certainly a win for the MCU and for movie theaters and, with enough time, could prove a profitable win for all those involved.
Source: Forbes
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