Films from Disney made up almost 80 percent of domestic box office ticket sales this past weekend. Studios have taken different approaches to debuting movies during the pandemic, with Warner Bros. releasing its entire 2021 slate in theaters and on HBO Max day and date, Sony delaying most of its films, and Paramount Pictures selling many to streaming services. Meanwhile, some of Disney's movies went straight to Disney+ at no additional charge, others were offered as part of the Premier Access feature, and a few received hybrid streaming and theatrical releases.
While concerns about the Delta variant had many skeptical about Shang-Chi's box office prospects, the film performed above expectations in its earning $94.4 million over the Labor Day weekend. The weeks prior saw a healthy uptick in ticket sales due to theatrical exclusive releases like Free Guy and Candyman. Other movies that had both streaming and theatrical releases like Jungle Cruise and Paw Patrol: The Movie also helped strengthen the box office. The various studios had films to draw audiences to theaters this weekend, but it appears Disney came out on top.
According to IndieWire, Disney movies made up close to 80% of domestic ticket sales for the weekend of September 10 to September 12th. While Disney only had three films in the top 10 at the box office, those movies were all in the weekend's top 5. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings remained number 1 with $35.7 million, bringing its domestic gross to $145.6 million. Free Guy held the number 2 spot in its fifth weekend with $5.8 million for a domestic total of $101.8 million, while in its seventh weekend Jungle Cruise rounded out the top 5 with $2.4 million and an overall domestic total of $109.8 million.
Both Universal and Warner Bros. also scored spots in the top 5, with new release Malignant coming in at number 3 and Candyman at number 4 in its third weekend. Despite efforts from those companies and the others represented in the top 10, it's clear Disney remains a force to be reckoned with. Its massive domination over ticket sales impacted the recent decision to release the rest of Disney's 2021 slate exclusively in theaters.
In 2019, seven of the highest-grossing films at the worldwide box office came from Disney, with one of the non-Disney films being Spider-Man: Far From Home, which is closely connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With theatrical distribution and viability a major point of conversation among industry insiders, the idea that audiences will only go to theaters for Disney films sets a scary precedent for what types of movies other studios will greenlight and how they will get released. The distribution model is changing with Paramount Pictures reportedly pivoting more towards streaming films and high profile movies like Halloween Kills, The Matrix Resurrections, and Dune set to get hybrid releases. With this in mind, it's likely Disney will continue to dominate the box office for the rest of the year. However next year, Warner Bros. will return to a 45-day theatrical window. With movies from that studio like The Batman and Fantastic Beasts 3 on the way, the box office will still remain a healthy competition.
Source: IndieWire