Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings continues to do wonders for Disney and the box office. As of today, the newest MCU film will become the highest-grossing movie domestically during the 2020-21 pandemic to date, passing Marvel’s Black Widow, which is currently sitting at $183.4M through yesterday.
What makes this news so astounding is that Shang–Chi was able to do this without a streaming release, versus the day and date model with Disney+ Premier Access that films like Black Widow and Jungle Cruise had prior. The film is set to hit Disney+ on November 12. The success of the film also gave The Walt Disney Company the confidence to release their remaining 2021 theatrical slate to an exclusive theatrical release, so no Disney+ for Eternals or Encanto.
Shang-Chi is expected to take the number one spot at the box office for a fourth week in a row, fending off the big new release, Universal’s Dear Evan Hansen. The film is only $200K away from surpassing Black Widow domestically and Shang-Chi is expected to gross $8M-$11M putting it at nearly $200M easily passing the Scarlet Johansson-led MCU film.
Worldwide F9 remains the highest-grossing movie at $716.6M. Behind F9 is Warner Bros./Legendary’s Godzilla vs. Kong with $467.86M, then Black Widow with $378.7M, and Shang-Chi with well over $326M around the globe.
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Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, who must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization. The film also stars Awkwafina as Shang-Chi’s friend Katy, with Michelle Yeoh as Ying Nan, and Tony Leung as Xu Wenwu, Shang-Chi’s father; as well as Meng’er Zhang, Fala Chen, Florian Munteanu, Benedict Wong, Yuen Wah, Ronny Chieng, Zach Cherry, and Dallas Liu.
Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and produced by Kevin Feige and Jonathan Schwartz, with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Charles Newirth serving as executive producers. Dave Callaham & Destin Daniel Cretton & Andrew Lanham wrote the screenplay and the screen story is by Dave Callaham & Destin Daniel Cretton.