Xinhua News
27th September 2021 – (Los Angeles) Disney and Marvel Studios’ superhero film “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” led North American box office for a fourth straight weekend with an estimated 13.3 million U.S. dollars, according to studio figures collected by measurement firm Comscore.
The theater-only release has grossed 196.5 million dollars in North America to date. The film is now the highest-grossing film in North America since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, overtaking its fellow Marvel release “Black Widow,” which earned 183.3 million dollars in the region. It’s also the first newcomer of 2021 to top the North American weekend box office four times in a row.
Overseas, the Marvel blockbuster took in 14 million dollars from 44 international markets this weekend, pushing its international cume to 166.9 million dollars for a global total of 363.4 million dollars.
“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is the 25th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Marvel’s first film with an Asian lead and cast.
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the film stars Chinese-Canadian actor Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, who must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization. The film also stars Tony Leung as Wenwu, Awkwafina as Shang-Chi’s friend Katy and Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan, as well as Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu and Ronny Chieng.
Universal’s musical teen drama film “Dear Evan Hansen” opened in the second spot with 7.5 million dollars.
Based on the Tony-winning musical of the same name, the film is directed by Stephen Chbosky. Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award winner Ben Platt reprises his role as an anxious, isolated high schooler aching for understanding and belonging amid the chaos and cruelty of the social-media age.
Coming in third, Disney and 20th Century Studios’ sci-fi action comedy film “Free Guy” brought in 4.1 million dollars in its seventh weekend for a North American cume of 114.1 million dollars. The film has earned 317.4 million dollars worldwide, including over 94 million dollars from China.
Directed by Shawn Levy, the film stars Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Joe Keery, Utkarsh Ambudkar and Taika Waititi.
“Free Guy” follows a bank teller who discovers he is actually a background player in an open-world video game, and decides to become the hero of his own story. Now in a world where there are no limits, he is determined to be the guy who saves his world his way before it is too late.
In the fourth place, Universal Pictures and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures’ horror hit “Candyman” took in 2.5 million dollars in its fifth weekend for a North American total of 56.8 million dollars.
Directed by Nia DaCosta, “Candyman” is based on the 1992 film of the same name, written by Bernard Rose, and the short story “The Forbidden” by Clive Barker. The film stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and Colman Domingo.
The film follows visual artist Anthony McCoy and his girlfriend as they move into a condo in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green neighborhood, which was terrorized by a word-of-mouth ghost story about a supernatural killer with a hook for a hand, easily summoned by those daring to repeat his name five times into a mirror.
Warner Bros. Pictures’ neo-Western drama film “Cry Macho” landed in fifth with 2.1 million dollars this weekend. The film has earned 8.34 million dollars in North America after 10 days.
Based on the 1975 novel of the same name by N. Richard Nash, 91-year-old Oscar winner Clint Eastwood directed and stars in the drama adventure.
The film stars the veteran Hollywood actor as Mike Milo, a one-time rodeo star and washed-up horse breeder who, in 1979, takes a job from an ex-boss to bring the man’s young son home from Mexico. Forced to take the backroads on their way to Texas, the unlikely pair faces an unexpectedly challenging journey, during which the world-weary horseman finds unexpected connections and his own sense of redemption.