Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings began its box office journey last night during Thursday night previews and it put up solid grosses during this pandemic-influenced box office.
Shang-Chi grossed $8.8 million in Thursday night previews that began at 6:00 PM. For comparison’s sake with other tentpole releases to come out this summer, the figure is above the Thursday start of Fast 9 ($7.1 million) which went on to gross the second-best pandemic opening day ($29.9 million) and the second-best pandemic opening weekend ($70 million). Shang-Chi was tracking in the $45-55 million range so this figure, as of now, has the film looking to exceed that amount. It has also been reported that Shang-Chi’s advance ticket sales were running ahead of Fast 9 and A Quiet Place Part II.
Shang-Chi has the potential of being a true sleeper hit that dominates the month of September. Starting off over the long Labor Day, where it will definitely break the Labor Day box office record held by Halloween since 2007 when it grossed $30.4 million, should mean that grosses will steadily increase this weekend unless the film is extremely front-loaded. Marvel’s Black Widow proved to be front-loaded after its pandemic-best $80 million opening (should’ve been above $90 million given its $39.5 million Friday numbers) but that film was also streaming on Disney+. Shang-Chi is exclusively playing in theaters which will make it another example as to why this is the best release strategy for tentpole releases at the box office.
Shang-Chi has September pretty much to itself which is also promising for its prospects. Then there are the reviews and word of mouth. Shang-Chi is killing it at both. The film is 92% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and the audience score is even better at 99%. The IMDB score currently sits at 8.1/10 while social media response has been fantastic. This film is going to click and it’s much-needed good news for the current box office climate.
What are YOUR thoughts on Shang-Chi’s box office start?