Shang-Chi Scores Second-Biggest Opening Weekend Of The Pandemic Era

It was all doom and gloom this time last week, with analysts predicting that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings would struggle to match The Incredible Hulk‘s $55 million opening three days to go down in the history books with the unwanted distinction of having the lowest-grossing debut in Marvel Cinematic Universe history.

Not only did Destin Daniel Cretton’s comic book blockbuster avoid that ignominy, but it also managed to open higher than Ant-Man, Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor as well. In fact, Shang-Chi has officially nabbed the second-biggest first frame of the entire pandemic era, with a $71 million three-day haul putting it just ahead of Fast & Furious 9, but still a little bit behind Black Widow.

As if you needed any more evidence that the MCU is the biggest game in town, Kevin Feige’s all-conquering outfit now boast the number one and two spots when it comes to topping the domestic box office during the age of COVID-19. Globally, Shang-Chi brought in a healthy $140 million, so the naysayers are probably eating their words right about now.

It also took the previous four-day Labor Day record set by Rob Zombie’s Halloween and almost tripled it by earning in excess of $83 million, so we can expect a celebratory social media post from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘ leading man Simu Liu any minute now, and it’s wonderfully fitting that the MCU’s newest Avenger outstripped The First Avenger at the box office.