After much anticipation, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings finally hit theaters and smashed the Labor Day box office record previously set by Halloween in 2007, and director Rob Zombie passed the torch on social media with gratitude and with grace.
Shang-Chi arrived in cinemas as the first theatrical-exclusive Marvel Cinematic Universe film in more than two years. Garnering widespread critical success and fervent audience support, the superhero martial arts flick grossed $75.3 million over its first three days of release, annihilating the former three-day record of $30.5 million held by 2007's Halloween remake directed by Rob Zombie. The director took to Instagram to congratulate the MCU film on ending Halloween's 14-year Labor Day reign.
"It took 14 years but it finally happened!" Zombie wrote. "Big Mike was knocked out of the top spot by a Kung-Fu Master. 14 years is a pretty good run."
Zombie's Halloween received mixed reactions from viewers when it debuted in 2007, earning only a 27% aggregate review score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the film's popularity helped reignite the slasher franchise, which is set to continue when Halloween Kills hits theaters this October. Last year, Christopher Nolan's Oscar-winning Tenet failed to take the Labor Day record with its $17.7 million total, granting Halloween one more year at the top before Marvel's newest Avenger came along.
Shang-Chi finished its opening weekend strong, amassing a four-day domestic gross of $94.6 million over the holiday. The film shattered its pre-release expectations to become the second-biggest 2021 domestic debut, coming in just shy of Black Widow's $80.3 million launch. Unlike its fellow MCU title, Shang-Chi only released on the big screen, without a simultaneous release on Disney+.
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is now in theaters.
Source: Instagram