Tag: Shang-Chi

We’ve been keeping a close eye on box office numbers throughout the year, as the world slowly heals from the pandemic. The first positive developments were back in April when Godzilla vs. Kong managed to beat expectations. As everyone focused on hybrid releases, F9: The Fast Saga took the risk and proved its success. So, while Disney was hesitant with Black Widow, they were all-in with Shang-Chi. The more time passes, the more it looks like the risk paid off.

The latest Marvel Studios release managed to garner another $9.1M throughout the weekend. While Venom: Let There Be Carnage faced a harsh drop in its second weekend, the MCU film managed to hold somewhat steady. With these numbers, it’s the third film to cross the $400M global box office mark. Officially, it has joined F9 and Godzilla vs. Kong. It’s great to see the film continue to perform well and it still has some time before it releases on Disney+.

The film currently earned $189.1M internationally and stands at $401.6M globally. We also have to keep in mind that it joined two other films that had the advantage of releasing in China. While there were hints it might find its way there, it seems more and more unlikely as time goes by. We still have no Chinese release date for the next two entries, Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home. So, it’s no small accomplishment for Shang-Chi to garner the amount it has at the international box office.

Source: Twitter, Twitter (BOReport)

In an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton and writer David Callaham gave some insight into the development process of the film. According to Callaham, some of the early ideas pitched were “too crazy” to make it into the final cut.

We were doing some pretty weird stuff at the beginning before (executive producer) Jonathan (Schwartz) kind of pulled us back. He knows the world. I think Destin and I, when we got there, were like ‘We can do anything! It’s Marvel!’ No idea was off the table to begin with, to be honest, which was really cool of Marvel, to let the team explore a little bit, and then eventually they tell you ‘You can’t do that, that’s too crazy’ or ‘We’re doing that somewhere else, but we can’t talk about it,’ that kind of thing.

One such potentially crazy idea, according to Cretton, would have seen Shang-Chi leave a younger brother behind, rather than Xialing, who would eventually turn into some sort of monster.

I mean, at one point, there was a moment when Shang-Chi had a brother that was left behind with Dad rather than a sister. That was early on. And there’s inspirations from the comics for that character. And I think the brother, like, turned into a monster at one point.

As Cretton says, Shang-Chi did have both a half-brother and an adopted brother in the comics, both of whom ultimately did battle with the Master of Kung-Fu. With neither Moving Shadow nor M’Nai, the aforementioned brothers, showing up in the first film, it’s possible that they could have put a pin in the idea and bring the character back in the sequel, seeking to challenge Shang-Chi and or Xialing for control of the Ten Rings (both the objects and the organization.

It’s always interesting to listen to the creatives behind the projects talk about the developments behind the scenes. Often times, ideas left out of the original films grow over time and find their way into sequels or additional projects; additionally, as Callaham pointed out, they creators sometimes find out that their ideas are already in the pipeline for other projects. Either way, it’s a good idea to file this one away in your memory banks for later as it has the potential to pop up down the line.

Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is now in theaters and will begin streaming on Disney Plus November 12th.

Source: Yahoo! Entertainment

Shang-Chi was one of Marvel Studios’ first attempts at a martial arts-inspired film. We got a lot of action and heart with the conflict between Shang-Chi and his father, Wenwu. As the leader of the Ten Rings, he had quite a reputation, but the story focused on the humanity behind his actions. He won’t win a medal for father of the year, but Tony Leung‘s performance made him one of the most memorable antagonists within the franchise. Sadly, it seemed like his time as part of the MCU was limited. Yet, a recent recording of the podcast They Call Us Bruce might’ve changed that.

Journalist Jeff Yang, who acted as a cultural consultant on Shang-Chi, used the opportunity to discuss the recent Marvel release. In the podcast, he discussed the film and added some nitpicks he had about the film. One rather curious statement might’ve raised some eyebrows regarding Leung‘s future with the franchise. In the podcast, he states that:

Given what they had in Tony Leung, I would have hoped that they would have made it a little more clear that he has other places to be in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I’ll just leave it at that

Jeff Yang

It’s not definite confirmation, but the way he highlights that “he has other places to be” makes you wonder if we’ll see Leung‘s return at some point. His character did meet a tragic end during the final clash of the film, but the way he moved on could still leave the door open for his eventual return. Plus, there’s a lot we still don’t know about the Ten Rings that could get explored in future sequels or even spinoffs.

Of course, there’s the question if the actor is even interested in returning. There’s a chance that they may have changed their plans due to limited availability for a Western Hollywood franchise. Though in an interview with GQ, he did highlight his interest in Hollywood and the lack of a fitting role that kept him from joining any productions. As he now has the chance, he might have a larger role in the West moving forward. It would be a fun idea to give the secret organization its Disney+ series to explore its history and potential future within the MCU. Here’s hoping we might get a clearer picture once Disney+ Day arrives of what Marvel Studios has planned for the future.

Source: Podbean, GQ

Shang-Chi has been surprising many throughout its box office run. Not only did it surpass its earliest expectations by a mile, but it also continued to perform far beyond what people expected. It’s a great statement for the return of cinema movie-going and a showcase for Asian-American-led projects. Only a few days ago, the film became the highest-grossing domestic earner passing Black Widow‘s $196M. Predictions already had it at passing the other Marvel Studios giant and adding an additional $10M over the weekend. They were on the money, as it has now added another $13.2M over the weekend taking the top spot.

As such, Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings is only one of three Marvel Studios films to take the top spot four weeks in a row. It’s now joining the exclusive club alongside Black Panther and Guardians of the Galaxy. The film currently stands at $196.5M domestically in 24 days. Internationally, it has garnered §360M without opening in China. In a way, Venom: Let There Be Carnage’s delay helped the film get an additional weekend. Newcomer Dear Evan Hansen opened to only around $7.5M.

October is going to be tough competition with the Venom sequel, No Time to Die, Halloween Kills, and Dune. Predictions would put it at around $225 until 235M, which is ahead of other Marvel films like Ant-Man and the Wasp, Thor: The Dark World, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Its higher point could compete with Doctor Strange or Logan. Eternals might benefit from all the upcoming releases and the hype for Spider-Man: No Way Home could become the final turning point for the box office.

Source: Twitter, Twitter (BO), Forbes, Variety