Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings opened to an impressive $8.8 million at the box office in its Thursday night previews.
The newest Marvel Cinematic Universe film debuted exclusively in theaters on Sept. 3. As reported by Variety, Shang-Chi's impressive box office numbers are the second-highest preview earnings since the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic after Marvel's Black Widow, which earned $13.2 million in previews. However, unlike the previous Marvel film starring Scarlett Johansson, Shang-Chi will only be available in theaters for 45 days.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek confirmed in May 2021 that Marvel Studios' Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings would skip a Disney+ release entirely and play exclusively in theaters for 45 days before moving on to streaming and PVOD. This 45-day window is significantly shorter than the traditional 90-day time frame, which was once considered the industry standard.
When asked why Shang-Chi would not be getting a Disney+ release, Chapek said, "We think it's going to be an interesting experiment for us," and also stated that Disney will consider how the film performs only in theaters and use that to inform its release decisions for future titles. In fact, it was recently reported that the release date for Marvel Studios' Eternals, which is currently set for an exclusive theatrical release on Nov. 5, would hinge on Shang-Chi's performance in the box office.
Chapek's "experiment" comment sparked a bit of controversy, prompting a frustrated response from Shang-Chi star Simu Liu on Twitter, who said the film was "not an experiment." However, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige later called the ordeal "a misunderstanding." During the recent premiere of Shang-Chi in Los Angeles, Liu, who stars as the titular character, said about his response to Chapek that he "just wanted people to know how fired up [he] was for this movie."
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings arrived exclusively in theaters on Sept. 3 and is the second film in the MCU's Phase 4, the first being Black Widow, which had a dual release in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access for $30. The film ended up pulling in $80 million domestically in its opening weekend, $60 million coming from Disney+ alone. However, this release strategy led to Black Widow star Johansson suing Disney with allegations that the film's release on Disney+ directly breached her contract.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is currently available exclusively in theaters.
Source: Variety
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