Recent controversy aside, Black Widow is now in the rearview and all eyes are on Marvel Studios' next movie, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. In terms of box office takings, it looks set to have potentially the lowest MCU opening since 2008's The Incredible Hulk, which is no great surprise given what a hit theaters have taken since the rise in COVID cases related to the Delta variant.
According to Box Office Pro, long-range tracking is pointing to a $35 million - $55 million North American debut during Labor Day weekend. That's a drop from Black Widow's $80 million opening last month, but more than what The Suicide Squad managed to earn. Both of those movies had simultaneous Digital releases (one paid for, one free), so trying to compare these numbers is no easy task.
September is never a big month for the box office, though, and the site believes Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will benefit thanks to a boost from Asian-American moviegoers. Marvel Studios has also managed to significantly increase awareness after marketing the movie during the Tokyo Olympics, and there's a lot of positive buzz surrounding the Phase 4 title on social media.
Studios are unlikely to be paying much attention to box office numbers given the current climate (unless they're shockingly bad), so this doesn't mean Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings won't one day get a sequel. It won't receive a Premier Access release, but will only be exclusive to theaters for 45 days. It's unclear what the plan is beyond that, but it will likely be a PVOD release of some sort.
Simu Liu appeared to respond to these box office reports with the following Tweet:
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