Box Office: 'Shang-Chi' Tops $200M As Divide Grows Between Hits And Flops

Walt Disney and Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has passed $200 million domestic thanks to a $780,000 Thursday gross, which is just -19% from its previous Thursday. And, yeah, that’s even more impressive considering the $11.6 million-worth of moviegoers who showed up for Venom: Let There Be Carnage last night. So, yes, as Disney and Scarlett Johansson announce that they have reached a brokered peace (90% of civil cases settle before trial, and this was no exception) and Disney announces that Shang-Chi will arrive on “electronic sell-through” on November 12 (the same day it arrives “for free” on Disney+) and on physical media November 30 (pretty close to a standard 90-day “window”), we finally got a “pandemic-era” $200 million-plus domestic grosser.

We haven’t had a Hollywood flick passing $200 million in North America since Will Smith and Martin Lawrence’s Bad Boys For Life, whose $204 million total (from January 2020) Shang-Chi should pass on Saturday. Conventional wisdom suggests a $7 million fifth-weekend gross for a $207 million 31-day total. Shang-Chi is already the biggest domestic earner of 2021, having passed Marvel’s Black Widow ($183 million) a week ago. It’ll soon be the biggest domestic earner of 2020 and 2021. Its sky-high success, alongside Venom: Let There Be Carnage’s incredibly promising $11.6 million Thursday gross, goes to what I’ve frankly been saying since Memorial Day weekend. The movies that audiences really wanted to see before Covid are performing about as well as expected, at least in North America.

A Quiet Place part II ($160 million), F9 ($173 million), Black Widow ($183 million, plus the concurrent Disney+ revenue) and Shang-Chi ($200 million-and-counting) all arguably earned/will earn around 85% of what might have been expected in non-Covid times. That’s good news for No Time to Die, which could end up closer to Spectre’s $200 million gross than Casino Royale’s $167 million gross, although both would be okay in the long run. It’s good news for the previously surefire likes of Marvel’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Marvel’s Eternals and Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. The question is whether, my current cautious optimism aside, the likes of Dune, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Encanto, Sing 2 and Matrix: Resurrections qualified as surefire hits in a non-Covid world.

Of note, Halloween Kills (playing in theaters and on Peacock starting October 15) could pull grosses on par with M. Night Shyamalan’s Old ($48 million domestic and $90 million worldwide) and still be fine on an over/under $15 million budget. I’d argue the slightly depressed grosses for The Forever Purge, Candyman and Old (all of which were still rock-solid profitable hits, natch) may have played a role in the Halloween Kills Peacock play, but that’s educated speculation. Moreover, as noted earlier this summer, the Covid circumstances have turned conventional and/or cynical franchise plays like (offhand) Space Jam: A New Legacy, The Suicide Squad, Cruella, Jungle Cruise and A Quiet Place Part II and Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins into “everybody’s rooting for you, buddy” underdogs.



https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2021/10/01/box-office-shang-chi-first-pandemic-era-blockbuster-to-top-200m-domestic/?sh=7d889b7f21a0

Box Office: 'Shang-Chi' Tops $200M As Divide Grows Between Hits And Flops

Walt Disney and Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has passed $200 million domestic thanks to a $780,000 Thursday gross, which is just -19% from its previous Thursday. And, yeah, that’s even more impressive considering the $11.6 million-worth of moviegoers who showed up for Venom: Let There Be Carnage last night. So, yes, as Disney and Scarlett Johansson announce that they have reached a brokered peace (90% of civil cases settle before trial, and this was no exception) and Disney announces that Shang-Chi will arrive on “electronic sell-through” on November 12 (the same day it arrives “for free” on Disney+) and on physical media November 30 (pretty close to a standard 90-day “window”), we finally got a “pandemic-era” $200 million-plus domestic grosser.

We haven’t had a Hollywood flick passing $200 million in North America since Will Smith and Martin Lawrence’s Bad Boys For Life, whose $204 million total (from January 2020) Shang-Chi should pass on Saturday. Conventional wisdom suggests a $7 million fifth-weekend gross for a $207 million 31-day total. Shang-Chi is already the biggest domestic earner of 2021, having passed Marvel’s Black Widow ($183 million) a week ago. It’ll soon be the biggest domestic earner of 2020 and 2021. Its sky-high success, alongside Venom: Let There Be Carnage’s incredibly promising $11.6 million Thursday gross, goes to what I’ve frankly been saying since Memorial Day weekend. The movies that audiences really wanted to see before Covid are performing about as well as expected, at least in North America.

A Quiet Place part II ($160 million), F9 ($173 million), Black Widow ($183 million, plus the concurrent Disney+ revenue) and Shang-Chi ($200 million-and-counting) all arguably earned/will earn around 85% of what might have been expected in non-Covid times. That’s good news for No Time to Die, which could end up closer to Spectre’s $200 million gross than Casino Royale’s $167 million gross, although both would be okay in the long run. It’s good news for the previously surefire likes of Marvel’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Marvel’s Eternals and Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. The question is whether, my current cautious optimism aside, the likes of Dune, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Encanto, Sing 2 and Matrix: Resurrections qualified as surefire hits in a non-Covid world.

Of note, Halloween Kills (playing in theaters and on Peacock starting October 15) could pull grosses on par with M. Night Shyamalan’s Old ($48 million domestic and $90 million worldwide) and still be fine on an over/under $15 million budget. I’d argue the slightly depressed grosses for The Forever Purge, Candyman and Old (all of which were still rock-solid profitable hits, natch) may have played a role in the Halloween Kills Peacock play, but that’s educated speculation. Moreover, as noted earlier this summer, the Covid circumstances have turned conventional and/or cynical franchise plays like (offhand) Space Jam: A New Legacy, The Suicide Squad, Cruella, Jungle Cruise and A Quiet Place Part II and Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins into “everybody’s rooting for you, buddy” underdogs.



https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2021/10/01/box-office-shang-chi-first-pandemic-era-blockbuster-to-top-200m-domestic/?sh=7d889b7f21a0

Tweet of the Day

Justice Sotomayor rejects request to block New York City school vaccine mandate

(CNN)Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Friday denied a request from a group of New York City teachers to block the city's vaccine mandate for public school employees.

Sotomayor did not refer the request to the other Supreme Court justices, or comment on her action, likely signaling they agreed with her decision. In August, Justice Amy Coney Barrett likewise rejected an effort to block Indiana University's vaccine mandate.

In court papers, lawyers for the teachers argued that New York City, as well as the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, have placed an "unconstitutional burden" on public school teachers. They wanted the high court to block the mandate while the appeals process played out.
In August, New York city officials issued an order requiring Department of Education staff who "work in-person" in a school setting or building to submit proof of at least one dose of vaccination of Covid-19.



https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/01/politics/new-york-vaccine-school-sotomayor/index.html?utm_content=2021-10-01T21%3A31%3A29&utm_term=link&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twCNNp

'Venom: Let There Be Carnage' Screams $11.6M On Thursday; 2nd Best Preview Night Of The Pandemic

Sony’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage rang up a great $11.6M Thursday night from showtimes that began at 4PM yesterday at 3,500 theaters. That’s the second best we’ve seen during the pandemic after Disney/Marvel’s Black Widow which grossed $13.2M on Thursday night from shows that began at 5PM (sans Disney+ Premier for the night). Even better news: That preview haul is higher than that of the 2018 movie which did $10M off showtimes that began at 5PM. Venom went on to do a $32.5M first day and $80.2M opening weekend, which is the second best ever for the month of October.

Disney/Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings follows in ranking among big pandemic Thursday nights with $8.8M from showtimes at 6 p.m., and then Universal’s F9 which did $7.1M off 7PM showtimes.

We had previously heard that the first day advance ticket sales for Andy Serkis-directed movie were quite potent. The current Rotten Tomatoes’ review rating for Venom 2 is at 58% Rotten, which is higher than the 2018’s first installment of 30% Rotten. We’ll see how audience exits settle. They’re always high with fans on Thursday night and even out by tonight. Fans at an AMC Universal Citywalk screening Monday night went bonkers for the Tom Hardy sequel.

Sony has told the media that they’re comping the sequel to A Quiet Place Part II which did $47.5M over its 3 days of Memorial Day weekend, however, other tracking services and even major exhibitors’ own internal projections have Venom 2 over $60M. Venom 2 is already far ahead of A Quiet Place 2 with its preview night making 2.4x more than that horror film which did $4.8M.



https://deadline.com/2021/10/venom-let-there-be-carnage-opening-weekend-box-office-1234847950/

'Venom: Let There Be Carnage' Screams $11.6M On Thursday; 2nd Best Preview Night Of The Pandemic

Sony’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage rang up a great $11.6M Thursday night from showtimes that began at 4PM yesterday at 3,500 theaters. That’s the second best we’ve seen during the pandemic after Disney/Marvel’s Black Widow which grossed $13.2M on Thursday night from shows that began at 5PM (sans Disney+ Premier for the night). Even better news: That preview haul is higher than that of the 2018 movie which did $10M off showtimes that began at 5PM. Venom went on to do a $32.5M first day and $80.2M opening weekend, which is the second best ever for the month of October.

Disney/Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings follows in ranking among big pandemic Thursday nights with $8.8M from showtimes at 6 p.m., and then Universal’s F9 which did $7.1M off 7PM showtimes.

We had previously heard that the first day advance ticket sales for Andy Serkis-directed movie were quite potent. The current Rotten Tomatoes’ review rating for Venom 2 is at 58% Rotten, which is higher than the 2018’s first installment of 30% Rotten. We’ll see how audience exits settle. They’re always high with fans on Thursday night and even out by tonight. Fans at an AMC Universal Citywalk screening Monday night went bonkers for the Tom Hardy sequel.

Sony has told the media that they’re comping the sequel to A Quiet Place Part II which did $47.5M over its 3 days of Memorial Day weekend, however, other tracking services and even major exhibitors’ own internal projections have Venom 2 over $60M. Venom 2 is already far ahead of A Quiet Place 2 with its preview night making 2.4x more than that horror film which did $4.8M.



https://deadline.com/2021/10/venom-let-there-be-carnage-opening-weekend-box-office-1234847950/

Zatanna by claudia lanniciello

AK-SEN: Lisa Murkowski Files Paperwork For 2022 Senate Run

With little fanfare, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on Thursday filed her candidacy paperwork for a Senate run in 2022.

The Alaska Republican, 64, had been mum about whether she planned to seek reelection to a fourth term. She told Politico in June, “I have not made public my intentions.”

Murkowski is a rare politician in today’s Senate: a moderate with record of working with Democrats on a number of fronts, and someone who is not afraid to buck her party on major votes.

She was arguably the most pivotal vote against repealing the Affordable Care Act in 2017. She was the only GOP senator who opposed Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court in 2018. She regularly condemned former President Donald Trump for his dangerous rhetoric and attacks on the media.



https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lisa-murkowski-senate-2022_n_6157226fe4b099230d22db95

Ayanna Pressley endorses Michelle Wu for Boston Mayor.

Lauren Cho disappeared in June. Her case is getting renewed calls to action.

As awareness of missing person cases increases nationwide, friends and family of 30-year-old Lauren “El” Cho, who disappeared near Joshua Tree National Park in California in June, are asking people to bring the same energy to finding her.

“Where is my sister?!” a sibling posted on Facebook in August. Since early July, the family has run a page called “Missing Person: Lauren ‘El’ Cho” to raise awareness as they wait for updates from authorities.

“Someone knows what happened,” the post continued.

Recent interest in missing persons cases, fueled by the disappearance and death of Gabby Petito, inspired some friends of Cho to spread her story on Twitter.

“Despite how much it hurts to reopen this, I want to use the attention now and just power through,” one of Cho’s friends said in a now-viral tweet spreading details about her disappearance and last whereabouts.

Cho, a resident of New Jersey, went missing on June 28 around 5 p.m. when she left her Airbnb on a remote, mountainous trail in Yucca Valley, California. Cho was traveling with her friends and ex-boyfriend, and they told police that when they last saw her, she walked away from the residence and into the desert with no food, water or cellphone.



https://www.yahoo.com/news/lauren-cho-friends-missing-n-161715297.html