“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” led the North American box office for a fourth consecutive weekend, surpassing “Black Widow” as the highest domestic earner of the pandemic.
The Walt Disney Co. film took in $13.3 million in sales at U.S. and Canadian theaters, researcher Comscore Inc. estimated on Sunday. That fell slightly short of Boxoffice Pro’s forecast of $13.8 million. The movie generated an overall $196.5 million in domestic ticket sales.
“Dear Evan Hansen,” a Universal Pictures movie based on the Tony-winning stage play, took second place and brought in about $7.5 million in its opening weekend, Comscore said. The musical from Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures stars Ben Platt and follows a teenager incorrectly assumed to be the friend of a fellow student who commits suicide. It was expected to make $9.6 million in its first three days, Boxoffice Pro said.
Disney’s “Free Guy,” which has been out since August, came in behind "Dear Evan Hansen."
“Shang-Chi” has had a strong run. It had one of the more moderate openings for a Marvel movie, but ticket sales benefited from good reviews and the fact it was available only in theaters, rather than also on streaming services. Still, it hasn’t been released in the largest movie market in the world, China, with the country working through its own backlog of films it wants to show to domestic audiences.
Theaters have a chance to reawaken in the coming weeks. Hollywood is about to release expensive new films that were delayed due to the pandemic or were awaiting more-favorable conditions. The big movies include the latest James Bond installment “No Time to Die,” from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the sci-fi saga “Dune” from Warner Bros. and the superhero movie “Venom: Let Their Be Carnage” from Marvel and Sony Pictures. If audiences still stay away, that will raise alarms about the pace of the industry’s recovery.
