Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings passes Black Widow at the box office to become 2021's biggest movie so far. The two Marvel movies premiered this year after multiple delays, under very different circumstances. Black Widow debuted in July via hybrid release that saw the movie available on Disney+ through the service's Premier Access program. That decision, while banking Disney more than $125 million, was controversial with theater owners and Scarlett Johansson herself. Shang-Chi received a traditional theatrical exclusive release, opening on the big screen over Labor Day weekend.

Despite ongoing concerns about rising COVID-19 cases and the Delta variant spread, Shang-Chi was very successful at the box office, breaking even some pre-pandemic records. It's remained in the top position for three weekends, quickly rising up the yearly charts as a result. With Shang-Chi still going strong at the box office (all things considered), it was only a matter of time before it became 2021's highest-grossing movie. Now, it has that title all to itself.

Related: Shang-Chi's Box Office Legs Break Post Pandemic Trends

According to Deadline, Shang-Chi is poised to overtake Black Widow in the #1 spot today (September 24). Currently, Black Widow has earned $183.4 million domestically, and Shang-Chi trails it with $183.2 million through Thursday, September 23. It's expected by the end of the weekend, Shang-Chi will have grossed $195.2 million in the U.S.

Shang-Chi and Black Widow Box Office

Shang-Chi's theatrical exclusivity likely played a role in its quick surge to the top. While Black Widow opened with a pandemic era record of $80.3 million domestically, it saw a steep second-weekend drop of 67.8%. Theater owners pointed to Black Widow's streaming release as the main culprit, since people were able to watch it from home. In contrast, Shang-Chi's second weekend was a 54% decrease, 13.8% less than Black Widow's decline. Since Shang-Chi can only be seen in theaters, that made it easier for it to have stronger legs at the box office. Shang-Chi is also being pirated less than Black Widow, which may be because there aren't any high-quality copies of Shang-Chi floating around.

It will be interesting to see how long Shang-Chi holds on to the year's top spot at the box office. There are a few major tentpoles on the horizon, some of which will definitely challenge Shang-Chi for that position. Next weekend sees the release of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, a sequel to one of 2018's biggest releases. No Time to Die and Spider-Man: No Way Home are arguably the premier event movies left on the 2021 schedule. The No Way Home trailer broke Avengers: Endgame viewership records, speaking to how hotly anticipated that Marvel movie is. So Shang-Chi may not end 2021 #1, but this is still a tremendous accomplishment for the MCU's newest Avenger and sets the stage for his exciting future moving forward.

Next: What Shang-Chi Beating Black Widow's Box Office Means for Marvel

Source: Deadline

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