Dune Opens Strong, Shang-Chi Crosses $320 Million at International Box Office

While box office numbers haven't quite returned to the way they were before the pandemic, there have been some promising results as of late. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings managed to have a record-breaking opening weekend at the box office and it's currently on track to top Black Widow's numbers. According to Deadline, the Marvel film has officially crossed $320 million at the international box office, and it's not the only film to have some success overseas. Dune, which isn't hitting theaters in the United States for another month, has already earned $36.8M in its early release at the international box office from just 24 markets.

According to the report, IMAX earned Dune $3.6M on 142 screens, which represents roughly 10% of the total weekend, averaging at about $25K per screen. Dune broke pandemic-era box office records in 10 markets including Russia, France, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Ukraine, as well as Hong Kong and Singapore.

Dune is based on the novel by Frank Herbert and is set to star Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica, Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto Atreides, Zendaya as Chani, Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Dr. Liet-Kynes, Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, Dave Bautista as Glossu Rabban, and Javier Bardem as Stilgar. 

Warner Bros. describes Dune as "A mythic and emotionally charged hero's journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet's exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity's greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive."

As for Shang-Chi, the movie scored $42M in its third session with $20.3M coming from 43 material offshore markets. The total international cume is now $143.7M for $320.6M global, making it Hollywood's fourth-biggest title of the year. Shang-Chi held at number one in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, the UK, and more with a total overseas drop of 44%.

Not only did Shang-Chi having a great box office run, but it also earned the highest audience score of any Marvel Cinematic Universe film on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie was met with positive reviews from critics, earning a 92% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes after 283 reviews, and it also earned an impressive 98% audience score after 10,000+ reviews. ComicBook.com gave the movie a 4.5 out of 5, calling it "one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's best origin stories to date."

Shang-Chi stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Awkwafina as Katy, Meng'er Zhang as Xialing, Tony Leung as Wenwu, Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan, Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery, Fala Chen as Ying Li, Florian Munteanu as Razor Fist, Ronny Chieng as Jon Jon, and Benedict Wong as Wong. The movie was directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and was released with a 45-day exclusive theatrical window. 

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is currently playing in theaters, and Dune is expected to open everywhere on October 22nd.