Marvel’sShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringsdebuted in theaters on Friday. The film has been riding a wave of critical praise and already has great reviews from audiences as well. However, the only way to seeShang-Chiright now is to make the trek to theaters. UnlikeBlack Widowand many other Disney movies,Shang-Chiwill not be available on Disney+ Premier Access. If you still aren’t comfortable going back to theaters yet, but want to seeShang-Chi, you’ll have to wait a minute. But not as long as usual.
Shang-Chiis expected to land onDisney+in mid-October. Disney is adopting a 45-day exclusive theatrical window for this movie, similar to what Paramount has been doing with their movies. WhenShang-Chidrops on the service, it will most likely be free with a subscription to Disney+. This is a much shorter wait than films likeCruellaandRaya and the Last Dragon, which did premiere with Disney+ Premier Access for $30, but were not free on the service for at least 3 months.
Disney has been experimenting with many different release strategies since the beginning of the pandemic. Other Disney films, including Pixar’s most recent films,SoulandLuca, premiered on Disney+ for no added charge. The Disney+ Premier Access has had mixed results for the company. Some films likeBlack Widowdid pretty well at both thebox officeand through Premier Access, however, others likeMulanandCruelladidn’t fare as well.
Shang-Chialso serves as a blueprint for Disney and possibly other studios going forward. This is the first Marvel outing to be released exclusively inmovie theaterssince Sony’sSpider-Man: Far From Home.Shang-Chi’s box office results could affect Disney’s release schedule going forward. Marvel still hasEternalsand Sony’sSpider-Man: No Way Homeset to come out this year and ifShang-Chistruggles, we could see these movies get delayed.
According toDeadline,Shang-Chi, “isin store for a Labor Dayopening weekend record of $45M-$50M at 4,200+ theaters.” This shatters the opening weekend for a movie released on Labor Day weekend, the previous record being held by Rob Zombie’sHalloween($30.6 million). This is still an underwhelming performance for a Marvel movie, but it’s still much better than the opening weekends for many movies since the pandemic. So far, the biggest openings since the pandemic have beenFast 9($70 million) andBlack Widow($80.4 million).
Worldwide, it’s harder to project howShang-Chiwill do as the film still does not have a release date in China. China is a huge market for movies, especially Marvel movies. According to CNBC, China “was the second-largest box office in the world” before the pandemic.Shang-Chihas still not been approved by the Chinese government and it’s impossible to know when it could get that approval.
The pandemic’s damage on the box office has forced many studios to experiment with their own streaming services and shorten theatrical windows. Similar to Paramount and Warner Bros, Disney is moving towards a 45-day theatrical window, beginning withShang-Chi. So, it won’t be on Disney Plus for now, but it’s coming sooner rather than later. This news originated atCNET.com.
