The Marvel Cinematic Universe's films are constantly breaking box office records, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is no different. Recently, the latest MCU release became the highest-grossing pandemic-era film in the United States, surpassing both F9 and Marvel Studios' own Black Widow. It is also one of the top ten highest-grossing films of 2021 worldwide.
Shang-Chi will eventually make its way onto Disney+ on November 12th, but the film's theatrical run is still making headlines. In its fourth week of release, Shang-Chi became the top film of the weekend again, beating out Dear Evan Hansen for the No. 1 spot. To fully examine Shang-Chi's success, here are the other box office records that the film has broken so far.
Third-Best Opening Day of the Pandemic
Shang-Chi opened exclusively in theaters on September 3rd. The day after release, it was reported that the film made $29.6 million on Friday night alone. This gave Shang-Chi the third-best opening day of any film during the COVID-19 pandemic era, which began in March 2020. Though the film still trailed behind Black Widow's opening night numbers, the strong Friday meant that the film was going to be a big hit going into the weekend.
Second Biggest Pandemic Era Debut
And sure enough, Shang-Chi did go on to become a big hit. The film ended up grossing a little over $70 million over the weekend. This made Shang-Chi the second biggest pandemic debut behind Black Widow's $80 million opening. This was made even more impressive by the fact that Shang-Chi didn't release simultaneously on Disney+, which later proved to be the defining factor in the film's long legs for the coming weeks.
Biggest Labor Day Weekend Opening
Since the film came out on Labor Day weekend, the following Monday's box office numbers were also taken into account for Shang-Chi's opening. When the numbers came in, the movie had accumulated up to over $94 million. Even without the extra Monday numbers, Shang-Chi's opening broke the record for the biggest Labor Day weekend opening ever. The film that previously held that record was Rob Zombie's 2007 remake of Halloween. It was such an impressive feat that Zombie even congratulated the film on its success in an Instagram post.
$100 Million in Five Days
With an opening weekend as big as $94 million, it wasn't long before Shang-Chi was able to reach $100 million in domestic dollars. In fact, the movie managed to reach that total in only five days. This is the shortest amount of time it's taken a film to reach $100 million this year, beating out Black Widow by one day.
Once again, it's important to note that Shang-Chi didn't get the Disney+ Premier Access treatment that Black Widow received when that film was released in July. The latter film's opening weekend was the biggest box office debut since Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker. And that film came out all the way back in December 2019.
Strong Second and Third Weekends
With no real competition, Shang-Chi continued to command the box office charts. In its second weekend, the film grossed over $35 million at the box office, making for a very strong second weekend for an MCU film, especially when compared to the massive second-weekend drop of Black Widow. Heading into its third weekend, Shang-Chi once again continued its hot streak with another No. 1 spot and just a little over $20 million. This strong showing gave Shang-Chi the second-best third weekend for a September film behind 2017's It.