82nd Golden Globe® Nominations Announced
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  • Box Office

World Box Office, September 20-26, 2021

On its fourth weekend, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings still conquered. The first Marvel movie directed by an Asian filmmaker and headlined by a predominantly Asian cast stayed number one and became the biggest-grossing film not only of this year but also of the coronavirus pandemic era. The superhero blockbuster, led by Simu Liu, has earned $196.5 million domestically so far, surpassing Black Widow’s $186.7 million.

With its $13.3 million haul in the recent weekend, Shang-Chi easily beat the debuting Dear Evan Hansen, director Stephen Chbosky’s adaptation of the 2015 hit Broadway musical. Featuring Ben Platt who also starred in the original stage version, with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and screenplay by Steven Levenson, Dear Evan Hansen could only muster $7.5 million for a second-place finish. The musical centers on the titular character, a high school senior with a social anxiety disorder who tackles the power of social media, also stars Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever, Amy Adams, and Amandla Stenberg.

Also staying strong, like Shang-Chi, was Ryan ReynoldsFree Guy, which earned $4.1 million and took the third berth after seven weeks.

In fourth and fifth spots were Candyman ($2.5 million) and Cry Macho ($2.12 million), respectively. The latter film, directed by icon and veteran Clint Eastwood, who also stars, is not turning out to be one of his top-performing and critically well-received movies.

Another movie with legs, Jungle Cruise, placed sixth with $1.72 million. The action-adventure-comedy, top-billed by Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, has now amassed $114.89 million after six weeks.

Taking the seventh, eighth, and ninth places were Malignant ($1.5 million), Gerard Butler’s Copshop ($1.27 million), and PAW Patrol: The Movie ($1.12 million), respectively.

Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield’s The Eyes of Tammy Faye and Love Story, a romantic drama from India, duked it out for the 10th spot. In the end, Love Story, an Indian-Telugu language film directed by Sekhar Kammula, won by earning $790,000, helped by strong turnstile performances in Atlanta, San Franciso, DC, New York, and Dallas. The Eyes of Tammy Faye settled for 11th place with $633,000.

The overseas box office race was dominated by Timothee Chalamet’s Dune, which picked up another $26.3 million on the weekend, for a total international take of $76.5 million so far. Yet to open in North America and China on October 20, Denis Villeneuve’s sprawling epic is poised to become an even bigger hit.

Shang-Chi also stayed solid in the offshore market with a $14 million haul added to its overseas tally of $167 million.

Free Guy, director Shawn Levy’s video game-inspired movie, hit the $300 million global milestone, after taking in $5.1 million in overseas territories. Internationally, the film’s cumulative gross is $203.3 million.

The box office race heats up in the next few weeks with the release of potential blockbusters. The much-awaited No Time to Die, Daniel Craig’s final movie as James Bond, with Cary Joji Fukunaga at the helm, finally rolls out toward the end of September and early October.

Also set to roll out is Venom: Let There Be Carnage, directed by actor Andy Serkis, and sees the return of Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom.