Box Office: Shang-Chi stays number one for the fourth weekend in a row

September belongs to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings as the Marvel release holds down the top spot at the box office for the fourth weekend in a row.

Shang-Chi grossed $13.3 million over the weekend and had a very modest drop of 39% from last weekend. With a running domestic total of $196.5 million, Shang-Chi is officially the highest-grossing film of the year at the domestic box office and it will become the first film of the pandemic to hit $200 million domestically in a matter of days. Globally, in 44 international markets, Shang-Chi grossed $14 million which brings its worldwide total to $363.4 million.

Debuting in second place is Dear Evan Hansen with a gross of $7.5 million. Despite getting off to a decent start with $800,000 in Thursday night previews, the musical adaptation couldn’t sustain that momentum for the entire weekend. Dear Evan Hansen was tracking to open in the $10 million range so coming in well below that is pretty troubling. The good news for Dear Evan Hansen is that the film only cost $27 million to make so it won’t be a huge loss for Universal but the bad news is it’s highly doubtful that the film will come close to matching its budget stateside when it’s all said and done.

In third place, we find Free Guy with a gross of $4.1 million, down just 19% from the previous weekend. Free Guy continues to be one of the highlights of the summer box office as the film is a huge win for original IP. The Ryan Reynolds-led release has pulled in $114.1 million to date at the domestic box office and the film continues to shine internationally as well with a running global total of $317.4 million.

Candyman holds well in fourth place with a gross of $2.5 million. That’s a decline of 29% and it’s interesting that with this weekend’s decline and its drop from last weekend, the film has seen its best holds at the box office even though the film is available on PVOD. To date, Candyman has grossed $56.8 million domestically and it also brings its worldwide total to $73 million. All on a very slim $25 million budget.

Rounding out the top five is Cry Macho with a gross of $2.1 million. That’s a steep decline of 52% which shows that the target demographic is just not coming out for Clint Eastwood’s latest film. Cry Macho’s performance on HBO Max also isn’t all that strong, per Samba TV, so this could just be the case that moviegoers just weren’t that interested in what Eastwood had to offer this time around.

In sixth we have Jungle Cruise with a gross of $1.7 million. The film is wrapping up its box office run but it still only saw a modest drop of 17% from last weekend. The Disney film brings its domestic total to $114.8 million to date which is solid as it came into this weekend with a global total of $206.5 million.

Falling to seventh place is Malignant with a gross of $1.5 million. That’s a drop of 45% which is decent for the horror genre but the bad news here is that Malignant cost $40 million to make reportedly and it has only managed to gross $12.2 million domestically. I still think the film will achieve cult status at some point but for now, it has to settle for being one of the losers of the summer box office.

Dipping to eighth place is Copshop with a gross of $1.2 million. The film declined 45% from last weekend which isn’t bad but considering it had such a soft opening last weekend, the result here isn’t all that great. Despite solid critical reviews, Copshop has only managed to gross $4.4 million to date but, much like Malignant, I think cult classic status is in its future.

Hanging in there in the top ten is Paw Patrol with a ninth-place finish of $1.1 million. Down 35%, Paw Patrol has grossed $38.7 million to date and I imagine that Paramount is happy with its performance at the box office considering it’s also available to stream on Paramount+.

Rounding out the top ten is Love Story with a gross of $893,765. The film debuted in 300 theaters and it continues to show how Indian-Telugu-language films continue to draw an audience during the pandemic. According to “Deadline“, the film had its best numbers in New York City, Dallas, San Francisco, DC, and Atlanta.

In global box office news, Dune grossed $26.3 million from 32 overseas markets in its second weekend. That’s a modest drop of 32% as it brings its international gross to $76.5 million. The next overseas release will be in mid-October, with 9 markets opening including Japan on October 15.

What are YOUR thoughts on this weekend’s box office results?