Simu Liu plays Shang-Chi in Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”.

Disney

Disney and Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” grossed an estimated US $ 71.4 million at the domestic box office this weekend.

It was the second highest opening for any movie released during the pandemic and the highest of any movie released on Labor Day weekend.

“Black Widow” currently holds the title for the highest opening during the pandemic at $ 80 million, and the previous record holder for the highest public holiday weekend release was “Halloween” in 2007, which was $ 26.3 million in the first three days domestically US dollars.

Internationally, “Shang-Chi” achieved an additional $ 56.2 million in ticket sales, bringing the estimated global total for Friday, Saturday and Sunday to $ 127.6 million. In particular, the film has yet to be approved for release in China.

“There is no doubt that Marvel’s massive brand equity has improved Shang-Chi’s prospects,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “[And] a perfectly implemented theater-first strategy ensured that the interest and excitement among the fans was higher. “

“Shang-Chi” is the first Marvel film to be shown exclusively in theaters since the beginning of the pandemic. “Black Widow,” which was released in July, debuted in theaters and on Disney + Premier Access the same day.

Many studios followed a similar release schedule throughout the pandemic, choosing to make films available in theaters and via streaming services. This strategy was used at a time when the coronavirus vaccine was only just becoming available in the US and audiences were still cautious about returning to theaters.

However, it has become clear that the double release has led to a cannibalization of theater ticket sales.

Box office analysts foresaw a solid start to the film’s theaters as it had the second highest advance booking of all theatrical releases in 2021 after Black Widow, according to Fandango.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal owns fandango.