'Dear Evan Hansen' Leads the Weekend Box Office

A film adaptation of the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen is the only new wide release movie to hit theaters this weekend. That means that the box office will likely be quiet, and the week will probably one of the least busy since theaters began to reopen earlier in the year. Read on for details.

Via Box Office Mojo.

The current state of the box office can best be described as polarized. On one hand, last weekend was the lowest grossing weekend at the box office since June, and if it drops further this weekend it could be the lowest since May. On the other hand, we’re witnessing a dream run for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which opened better than expected and is now holding better than expected. It is on the cusp of passing its fellow Marvel blockbuster Black Widow as the year’s top grosser, and by the end of the weekend should be nearing $200 million. The overall market may be slumping, but inpidual films are still shining.

The international box office also looks promising, with Dune smashing expectations overseas with its $37 million opening weekend, mostly in Europe. China is back to being a lucrative market for Hollywood as well, with Free Guy’s $89 million gross there making up nearly 30% of the film’s $303 million global cume. While many of the year’s biggest films may be missing out on a China release altogether, most notably Black Widow and Shang-Chi, things are looking up as release dates have been given for Dune (October 22, day and date with the U.S.) and No Time To Die (October 29).

While we are in for another slow weekend, we are just a week away from entering what could become the biggest month yet this year. October gives us four weekends in a row of potential blockbusters with Venom: Let There Be Carnage, No Time To Die, Halloween Kills, and Dune, with the new Venom and James Bond films being theatrical exclusive. The twists and turns of the pandemic make it hard to predict the box office, but Shang-Chi has proved that there is still a big audience for the theatrical experience with the right film, especially if that film is not also available for streaming.

This weekend could see Shang-Chi spend its fourth weekend at number one, which would make it the first film to pull off such a feat since Tenet, which similarly opened over Labor Day weekend and had the month of September largely to itself. If it drops this weekend in the range of its second and third weekends, we’re looking at a $10-14 million gross. Shang-Chi has a good chance of passing Bad Boys for Life’s $206 million gross next week, which will make it the highest grossing film domestically since 2019.

Get the rest of the story at Box Office Mojo.