Movie

'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' passes 'Black Widow' as the highest-grossing domestic film this year while the musical teen drama film has a lackluster debut.

• Sep 27, 2021

AceShowbiz - "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" continues to fend off competition on the North American box office. Four weeks after its release, the latest Marvel movie still holds on to the top spot of the chart with an estimated $13.3 million.

That brings the movie's current domestic haul to $196.4 million, closer to crossing the $200 million mark. The number, however, is enough to set a new record as the Simu Liu-starring flick has now become the highest-grossing film domestically this year, surpassing previous Marvel superhero film "Black Widow", which has collected $183.6 million so far.

Internationally, "Shang-Chi" has brought in $166.9 million before it airs in China, which is an important market. The movie is currently at risk of being banned in China due to comments Liu made in an interview with the CBC in 2017, referencing negative comments from his parents about living in China. However, Marvel still hopes to secure a release date for the movie in the country.

Back to the domestic box office, "Shang-Chi" faces little competition from newcomer "Dear Evan Hansen", which has a lackluster debut at No. 2 with approximately $7.5 million. Based on the 2015 stage musical of the same name by Steven Levenson, the musical teen drama film fell short of expectations, no thanks to negative reviews and COVID-19 concerns.

Unlike the stage version, which netted six Tony Awards and cemented Ben Platt as a star, the movie adaptation received an average rating of 4.8/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. Still, Jim Orr, Universal's president of domestic distribution, is optimistic of the movie longterm performance as saying, "We have very good audience reactions, especially with younger females. We hope it points to a good run from here."

With no other big new movie released this week, "Free Guy", "Candyman" and "Cry Macho" still occupy the rest of the top five spots. The Ryan Reynolds-starring fantasy action film added an estimated $4.1 million and places third. The horror sequel stays at No. 4 with approximately $2.5 million, while Clint Eastwood's Western movie slides two places to No. 5 with approximately $2.1 million.

"Shang-Chi" straight wins will be challenged next week by the release of "Venom: Let There Be Carnage", which will be followed by the highly-anticipated and much delayed James Bond film "No Time to Die".

Top 10 of North America Box Office (Sep. 24-26, 2021):

1. "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" - $13.3 million
2. "Dear Evan Hansen" - $7.5 million
3. "Free Guy" - $4.1 million
4. "Candyman" - $2.5 million
5. "Cry Macho" - $2.1 million
6. "Jungle Cruise" - $1.7 million
7. "Malignant" - $1.5 million
8. "Copshop" - $1.3 million
9. "PAW Patrol: The Movie" - $1.1 million
10. "Love Story" - $971,000