With a lot of help from Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” the entire domestic box-office of this year’s four-day Labor Day weekend is projected to come in at $135.2 million total. That is 12% ahead of pre-pandemic 2019’s Labor Day weekend haul of $120.7 million.
Marvel’s Asian-led superhero film is on track for a $71.4 million three-day and an $83.5 million four-day haul over the holiday – easily breaking the record for the weekend.
It’s also the second-best three-day opening weekend of the pandemic, beating “F9” ($70 million) and behind only “Black Widow” ($80.3 milliion), though the latter was simultaneously available on the Disney+ service. Globally the film will pull in a worldwide total of $127.6 million after its opening weekend.
Nia DaCosta’s “Candyman” is coming in second with $10.5 million over the three day and an estimated $13.4 million across four days. That three-day is a drop of around 53% which is very solid for a horror movie. The film is headd well into profit – its domestic total of $41.9 million is way ahead of the movie’s $25 million production budget.
“Free Guy” is on track for $8.7 million over the three day and $11.2 million across four days. Both “Candyman” and “Free Guy” are exclusive to cinemas with no streaming options.
“Paw Patrol” and “Jungle Cruise” will battle for fourth and fifth with $5.2 million each over the four-day holiday.
Exhibitors, buoyed by CinemaCon the other week, are expected to tubthump these numbers and put pressure on exhibitors to stick to theatrical only debuts for their major features moving forward.
Source: Variety
