Marvel's Shang-Chi Scores Big Opening Night At US Box Office

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings scored $8.8 million at the US box office in its opening night. The latest Marvel movie can only be seen in theaters, unlike July's Black Widow, which was also available on Disney+ Premier Access.

As reported by Variety, Shang-Chi's Thursday preview gross is the second-highest of the pandemic era, second only to Black Widow, which opened to $13.2 million. The other highest opening night numbers are F9's $7.1 million and A Quiet Place Part II's 4.8 million.

Shang-Chi is predicted to make between $45-$50 million in the US and Canada over the long Labor Day weekend. This would set a new record for the weekend--and not just during the pandemic but of all time--easily eclipsing the previous record-holder, 2007's Halloween remake, which made $30.6 million.

The movie stars Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Fala Chen, Tony Leung, and Michelle Yeoh. It's directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, who previously helmed Short Term 12 and Just Mercy.

In his Shang-Chi review, GameSpot's Mason Downey said the movie "skews more closely to an epic Chinese Xianxia or Wuxia fantasy film like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (which it doesn't shy away from nodding to) than a western superhero movie. There are sweeping, beautifully choreographed fight scenes that are absolute joys to watch, especially when they pit actors like Tony Leung and Fala Chen against one another."

There are still two more MCU set to arrive before the end of 2021. Eternals arrives in November, and the full trailer was recently released. Beyond that, the third MCU Spider-Man movie--Spider-Man: No Way Home--releases in December. Check out the first trailer for that here.