Marvel’s Shang-Chi has been projected to set a Labor Day Weekend opening box office record. Deadline is reporting that the Marvel feature could be headed for a $90 million launch. That would eclipse Halloween’s wild $30 million opening back in 2007. Typically studios try to avoid the Labor Day holiday because people are so preoccupied with outdoor activities. Obviously, 2021 poses some different challenges. But, Disney and Marvel Studios are confident that Simu Liu‘s MCU debut can overcome whatever is standing in its way. (That speculation that Shang-Chi will have to do well if fans want Eternals on time probably didn’t hurt matters. As an added bonus, the field of releases should give the Marvel flick some serious staying power at the cinema as well. The MCU features always seem to strike a chord with audiences. This effort carries the added bonus that it represents a truly new character that will have significant repercussions for everything that comes afterward.
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Kevin Feige talked to Comicbook.com ahead of the big premiere. He said that MCU fans are going to want to be in this one on opening night because of the implications for the rest of the story they’re building.
“Well, we don’t want to spoil anything,” Feige explained. “But, I think the end of this film gives a pretty clear direction on, at least, how vital and how important and how directly Shang-Chi is stepping into this world. We are reminded of Nick Fury in the tag of Iron Man 1, telling Tony Stark, ‘You’re part of a bigger universe, you just don’t know it yet.’ And without giving away, a very similar thing happens to Shang at the end of this movie.”
Liu also spoke with us about his excitement to be a part of this larger world. “Absolutely not,” Liu said when asked about the link to Iron Man’s franchise. “I think I remember asking Kevin Feige because he brought me into his office and he was like, ‘Okay, great. Do you have any questions?’ And the first thing that I asked was I was like, ‘How is it going to tie to the MCU?’ Because that’s all I wanted to know. I was like, ‘Am I going to be an Avenger? Am I going to see this person? Am I going to fight Thor? Am I going to be best friends with Captain America?’ Like, ‘Tell me’! And he was just like, ‘Simu, you just have to trust us.’”
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