Marvel’s ‘Shang Chi’ Crushed Box Office Expectations. Will That Convince Disney to Keep ‘Eternals’ in Theaters?

“Dear Evan Hansen” may have been a hit on Broadway, but the filmed adaptation of the Tony-winning show is off to a slow start at the box office in its first weekend in theaters.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is unstoppable.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Dear Evan Hansen,” the Universal Pictures adaptation of the smash Broadway musical, didn’t strike a chord with moviegoers.Marred by negative reviews and COVID-19 concerns, the film fell short of expectations and collected a muted $7.5 million from 3,365 North American theaters in its debut.

On Friday, “Shang-Chi” passed the $183.4 million domestic run of “Black Widow” to become the highest grossing film in North America since the pandemic began, and this week it is set to become the first film since “Bad Boys for Life” in February 2020 to reach the $200 million mark.

Ellise Shafer administratorIt’s official: “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” has surpassed fellow Marvel film “Black Widow” as the highest-grossing film of 2021 and the pandemic at the domestic box office.On Friday, the superhero adventure starring Simu Liu captured $3.59 million from 3,952 theaters, which was enough to push it past “Black Widow” with a total gross of $186.7 million.

In third this weekend is 20th Century’s “Free Guy” with $4 million in its seventh weekend, giving it a total of $114 million. Universal/MGM’s “Candyman” is fourth with $2.46 million in its fifth weekend and a $56.8 million total, and Warner Bros.’ “Cry Macho” is No.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Dear Evan Hansen,” the big-screen adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical, premieres in theaters this weekend. Will it be found at the top of box office charts?The Universal film, which sees Ben Platt reprising his Tony-winning role, is projected to debut to approximately $10 million from 3,300 North American cinemas.

Naman Ramachandran It was a week of holdovers as Disney titles “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and “Free Guy” continued their reign over the U.K. and Ireland box office.

Marvel movie ever.“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” Marvel's first Asian superhero movie, has earned an estimated $320.6 million worldwide. The only trouble for “Shang-Chi” thus far is a lack of a release date in China, which hasn't cleared the film for release in the country, the world's largest but highly censored film market.While “Shang-Chi” is playing only in theaters, Warner Bros.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterDisney’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” ruled the domestic box office again while Clint Eastwood’s Western “Cry Macho” and Gerard Butler’s R-rated action-thriller “Copshop” crumbled in their debuts, highlighting the disparity between the kind of movies people are willing to venture out to see during the pandemic.“Shang-Chi,” the first Marvel superhero adventure to feature an Asian star and predominately Asian cast, pulled in a mighty $21 million

Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros/Legendary’s Dune has surpassed expectations, harvesting $36.8M at the international box office from just 24 markets in early release. The Denis Villeneuve-directed sci-fi epic was the top movie overseas this weekend, coming in with No.

Critical and audience acclaim, combined with its status as a theatrically exclusive film, has turned “Shang-Chi” into a film that has not only been the biggest boost to theaters in months but has also convinced Disney to commit to theatrical exclusivity for the remainder of the year. It is also now on track to become the first film since the shutdown to gross $200 million in North America.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Shang-Chi And The Legend of The Ten Rings” held on the top place at the South Korean box office for the second weekend. But it failed to sustain overall cinemagoing in what used to be, pre-COVID, the world’s fourth largest theatrical market.“Shang-Chi” earned $2.63 million in its second weekend for a market share of 50%.

NEW YORK -- “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” stayed on top at the box office, collecting $35.8 million in ticket sales in its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.That total was good enough for the best second-weekend gross of any film during the pandemic, edging out the previous Marvel movie, “Black Widow.” This year, relatively few films have held well in theaters either because they've been streaming simultaneously at home or because moviegoers' attention

Refresh for latest…: Disney/Marvel’s Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings handily crossed the $250M mark globally this weekend, seeing a very good 34% drop at the international box office and maintaining No. 1s in such key markets as Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Korea, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain and the UK.

And in another victory for champions of theatrical exclusivity, “Shang-Chi” now has a higher 10-day domestic total than “Black Widow” with $145 million domestic and $257.6 million worldwide. The Scarlett Johannson blockbuster, which was offered as a $30 premium Disney+ title, had $131 million and a 69% second weekend drop compared to 54% for “Shang-Chi.” “Shang-Chi” isn’t the only way Disney is resuming its domination of the box office.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterMarvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” ruled the domestic box office again, collecting $35.8 million in its second weekend in theaters.Ticket sales for the superhero movie, led by Simu Liu and Awkwafina, fell 53% from its debut, a decline on par with many Marvel installments in pre-pandemic times.